COLUMBIA  LIBRARIES  OFFSITE 

HEALTH  SCIENCES  STANDARD 


HX64076806 
R  A1 231  .L4  H1 82     Hygiene  of  the  paint 


U.  S,  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 
BUREAU  OF  LABOR  STATISTICS 

CHAS.  P.  NEILL,  Commissioner 


BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  1  /WHOLE    1  OA 

BUREAU    OF    LABOR    STATISTICS  /    '   "   '    t  NUMBER   iCV 

INDUSTRIAL      ACCIDENTS      AND       HYGIENE       SERIES:       No.-ia 


HYGIENE  OF  THE 
PAINTERS'  TRADE 


MAY   13,    (913 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1613 


^Aa^/'^^ 


///<^^ 


COLLEGE  OF 

PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 

LIBRARY 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 
THE  LIBRARIES 


HEALTH  SCIENCES 
LIBRARY 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

Open  Knowledge  Commons 


http://www.archive.org/details/hygieneofpainterOOhami 


U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 
BUREAU   OF  LABOR   STATISTICS 

CHAS.  P.  NEILL,  Commissioner 

BULLETIN  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES!  /WHOLE    1  OA 

BUREAU    OF    LABOR    STATISTICS]     *   "    "    I  NUMBER    l^U 

INDUSTRIAL       ACCIDENTS       AND        HYGIENE       SERIES:       No.      2 


HYGIENE  OF  THE 
PAINTERS'  TRADE 


MAY  13,   1913 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1913 


OOISTTET^TS. 


Hygiene  of  the  painters'  trade:  Pag«. 

Introduction 5-7 

Composition  of  paint 7-14 

Physiological  effects  produced  by  the  liquid  constituents  of  paint 9-14 

Linseed  oil 9, 10 

Turpentine 10, 11 

Petroleum  spirits,  benzine,  and  naphtha 11, 12 

Benzole 12 

Wood  alcohol  or  methyl  alcohol 13 

Amyl  acetate 13 

Acetone 13 

Carbon  disulphide 14 

Corrosive  poisons 14 

Flat-finish  paints 14-17 

Physiological  effects 14-16 

Analysis  of  samples  of  fiat-finish  paints 16, 17 

Pigments 18-32 

Relative  poisonousness  of  the  different  lead  compounds 18-22 

Basic  lead  carbonate 19 

Red  lead  and  orange  mineral 19 

Lead  chromate 19 

Basic  lead  sulphate  or  sublimed  lead 19 

Lead  poisoning  in  factories  making  sulphate  of  lead 19-21 

Lead  poisoning  in  a  factory  using  lead  carbonate  and  lead  sulphate.  21,  22 
Solubility  of  basic  lead  sulphate  and  basic  lead  carbonate  in  human 
gastric  juice  and  relative  toxicity  of  the  two  salts  as  shown  by  feed- 
ing experiments  with  dogs  and  cats  (A.  J.  Carlson  and  A.  Woelfel). .  22-32 
Relative  solubility  of  lead  carbonate  and  lead  sulphate  in  hu- 
man gastric  juice 23-25 

Relative  toxicitj^  of  lead  sulphate  and  lead  carbonate  when  fed  to 

dogs  and  cats 25-29 

Retarding  effect  of  milk  on  the  solubility  of  lead  salts  in  human 

V             gastric  juice 2^31 

Summary  of  conclusions  on  solubility  and  feeding  experiments.. .  31,  32 

Methods  of  using  and  removing  paint 32-38 

Use  of  dry  lead  salts 33 

Dry  sandpapering  of  lead-painted  surfaces 33,  34 

Importance  of  dust  as  a  cause  of  lead  poisoning 34,  35 

Moist  rubbing  of  lead-painted  surfaces 35 

Removing  old  paint 35,'36 

Danger  from  dusty  clothing,  etc 36 

Danger  from  paint  on  unwashed  hands  and  face 36-38 

House  painting 38 

3 


4  CONTENTS. 

Hygiene  of  the  painters'  trade — Concluded.  P.*ge. 

Sign  painting 39 

Ship  painting 40-42 

Wagon  and  carriage  paintiiog 42,  43 

Automobile  painting 43,  44 

Railway  car  painting 44, 45 

Agricultural  implements,  structural  iron,  etc 45 

Furniture,  picture  frames,  moldings,  etc 45 

Lead  poisoning  among  painters  in  Europe 45-48 

Germany 46 

Great  Britain 46, 47 

Austria •. 47,  48 

Lead  poisoning  among  painters  in  tlie  United  States 48-60 

Sources  of  information 48-60 

Experience  of  Prudential  Insurance  Co 49 

Report  of  Illinois  Commission  on  Occupational  Diseases 49 

Records  of  hospitals  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Camden,  and  Cin- 
cinnati     .         49 

Report  of  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission 49 

Bulletin  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  95 49 

Study  of  a  local  district  council  of  painters  in  Chicago 49-51 

Physical  examination  of  100  active  house  painters  in  Chicago 

(Emery  R.  Hayhurst,  M.  D.) 51-58 

Histories  of  100  lead-poisoned  painters 58-60 

Regulations  governing  the  use  of  lead  paints  in  European  countries 60-62 

I'rance 61 

Austria 61 

Germany 61 

Possible  legislation  for  the  protection  of  painters  in  the  United  States 62-64 

Summary „ 65, 66 


BULLETIN  OF  THE 
U.  S.  BUREAU  OF  LABOR  STATISTICS. 

WHOLE  NO.  120.  WASHINGTON.  may  is,  1913. 

HYGIENE  OF  THE  PAINTERS'  TRADE. 

BY    ALICE    HAMILTON,  M.  A.,  M.  D. 
INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  discover  even  approximately  the 
proportion  of  painters  in  the  United  States  who  suffer  injury  from 
the  use  of  lead  paint.  In  the  first  place,  we  do  not  know  how  many 
painters  there  are  who  are  exposed  to  this  danger.  The  United 
States  Census  for  1900  gives  277,541  painters,  glaziers,  and  varnishers, 
but  since  the  latter  two  classes  of  workmen  are  not  exposed  to  lead 
paint  this  enumeration  is  valueless  for  our  purpose.  The  Brotherhood 
of  Painters,  Decorators,  and  Paper  Hangers  also  includes  too  many 
classes  of  workmen  for  their  figures  to  be  of  use  even  for  the  organized 
branch  of  the  trade,  and  of  course  they  do  not  include  the  nonunion 
men.^  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  sources  of  information  as 
to  lead  poisoning  among  painters  are  even  less  trustworthy.  This 
study  is  presented,  therefore,  as  a  tentative  report  only,  a  collection 
of  what  can  be  gleaned  from  the  scanty  sources  available.  In  every 
case  where  a  statement  is  made,  care  will  be  taken  to  explain  upon 
what  foundations  it  rests  and  how  nearly  accurate  it  may  be  assumed 
to  be. 

This  is  the  most  widespread  of  the  lead-using  trades,  even  more 
general  in  its  distribution  than  printing  or  plumbing,  for  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  there  is  no  community  so  small  that  it  does  not  include  at 
least  one  painter. 

The  industry  falls  naturally  into  divisions  based  more  upon  eco- 
nomic grounds  than  upon  any  other.  Broadly  speaking,  we  have  two 
classes:  First,  the  independent  house  and  sign  painters,  working 
now  for  one  contractor,  now  for  another,  under  conditions  that  vary 
greatly,  and  using  at  different  times  paints  of  widely  differing  formulas 
and  applying  them  in  different  ways,  according  to  the  ideas  of  the 

1  There  are  72,500  members  of  the  Brotherhood  in  the  United  States. 


6  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

contractor  under  whom  they  work  and  the  cheapness  or  expensiveness 
of  the  work  contracted  for.  Their  emplojanent  is  largely  seasonal 
and  the}"  have  long  periods  of  unemployment/  but  to  offset  in  part 
this  disadvantage  they  are,  in  most  large  cities  at  least,  members  of  a 
strong  labor  organization  with  power  to  influence  in  great  measure 
their  hours  of  work  and  the  conditions  under  which  the  work  is  done. 
House  painting  is  a  skilled  trade,  requiring  an  apprenticeship  of  three 
years,  and  sign  painting  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years,  and  these 
painters  are  usually  much  above  the  average  of  wage  earners  in 
intelligence  and  education. 

Between  this  and  the  next  class  come  the  ship  painters,  whose  work 
resembles  house  painting  very  closely,  yet,  owing  partly  to  the  fact 
that  the  trade  is  unorganized,  partly  to  differences  in  the  work  itself, 
ship  painting  must  be  considered  separately.  The  shipyards  employ 
union  men,  but  maintain  an  open-shop  policy. 

The  other  large  class  comprises  painters  who  work  in  manufacturing 
plants,  factories,  or  workshops  of  any  kind.  This  class  of  men  has 
much  steadier  employment  both  as  regards  time  and  character  of 
work  than  the  house  painters.  They  use  the  same  kind  of  paints 
and  the  same  methods  day  after  day,  though,  as  is  true  of  all  factory 
work,  subdivision  of  labor  brings  it  about  that  a  painter  often  has  but 
one  small  part  of  the  product  intrusted  to  him,  so  that  his  skill  is  exerted 
in  a  very  restricted  field.  In  many  factories  hand  painting  has  been 
replaced  by  machinery,  which  dips  the  objects  to  be  painted  in  large 
tanks  of  paint  and  then  swings  them  out  over  a  drip  board  to  dry.  In 
other  factories  the  paint  is  sprayed  on  by  means  of  compressed-air 
atomizers.  Consequently  much  of  the  work  can  be  done  by  unskilled 
or  semiskilled  men,  and  many  newly  arrived  immigrants  with  no 
experience  in  anything  but  farm  work  are  at  present  employed  in 
factory  painting. 

This  class  of  painters  is  not  organized,^  yet  union  painters  may  take 
employment  in  open  shops,  such  as  railway-coach,  carriage,  and 
automobile  factories,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  skilled  union 
painters  employed  at  the  better-paid,  more  difficult  parts  of  the  work, 
while  unskilled,  nonunion  men  are  employed  at  the  simpler  parts. 
No  house  painter  can  work  for  any  length  of  time  without  being 
obliged  to  employ  lead  paint  to  some  extent,  but  in  factory  work  a 
painter  may  use  leadloss  paints  entirely.  It  follows  that  some  classes 
of  factory  work  are  safer  than  house  painting  can  be,  while  it  is  also 
probably  true  that  some  of  the  most  dangerous  kind  of  work  in  the 

>  The  answers  given  by  1,3HS  men  belonging  lo  the  Painters  District  Council  No.  14,  Chicago,  in  1911 
sbowcd  that  eight  weeks  iind  two  days  was  the  average  of  unemployment  during  the  year  (seep.  49.)  It  la 
gald  to  be  somewhat  less  for  sign  painters. 

)  There  is  a  trade-union  of  carriage  and  automobile  painters,  but  it  does  not  control  the  industry. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE   PAINTERS      TRADE.  7 

painters'  trade  is  to  be  found  in  factories.     Tliese  painters  come  under 
the  following  heads: 

Coach  painters: 

Wagons  and  carriages. 

Automobiles. 

Railway  and  street-railway  coaches. 

Bridge,  tank,  and  structural  iron  painters. 

Agricultural  implements. 

Furniture,  picture  frames,  moldings. 

There  have  been  changes  of  late  years  tending  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  painters  in  some  industries  and  to  lessen  the  number  in  others. 
In  cities  where  brick,  cement,  and  stone  have  displaced  wood  for  the 
construction  of  buildings,  the  decrease  of  painters  employed  on  exte- 
rior work  has  been  compensated  for  by  the  increase  in  demand  for 
interior  painting.  The  French  and  colonial  styles  of  interior  deco- 
ration, so  popular  now,  require  painting  where  varnishing  afid  stain- 
ing was  the  rule  not  many  years  ago.  There  has  also  been  an  enor- 
mous increase  in  automobile  painting,  and  there  has  been  an  increase 
in  the  output  of  agricultural  machinery.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  much  less  painting  of  furniture  than  there  used  to  be,  and  there  is 
an  increased  use  of  machinery  in  factories  making  agricultural 
implements,  wagons,  and  automobiles  which  lessens  the  number  of 
painters  employed,  for  a  few  men  dipping  take  the  place  of  many 
formerly  employed  in  handwork. 

COMPOSITION  OF  PAINT. 

In  the  following  discussion  of  the  different  constituents  which  enter 
into  the  composition  of  paints,  no  consideration  is  given  to  any  aspect 
of  the  question  except  the  hygienic.  Pigments  and  liquid  vehicles 
and  driers  and  the  methods  of  applying  them  are  discussed  only  with 
regard  to  their  effect  upon  the  health  of  the  men  who  handle  them, 
without  any  consideration  of  the  excellence  or  inferiority  of  the  prod- 
uct. The  paint  which  is  worst  in  point  of  covering  power  and  per- 
manence may  be  the  one  least  fraught  with  risk  to  the  workman,  but 
it  is  the  latter  aspect  only  which  is  discussed  here. 

A  paint  is  a  mixture  of  pigment  and  vehicle  (liquid  portion)  either 
of  which  may  be  harmless  or  poisonous.  Usually  there  is  at  least 
one  substance  in  paint  which  is  capable  of  producing  harmful  effects 
on  the  workmen  who  handle  it;  often  there  are  several  of  such  sub- 
stances. High-priced  paints  usually  consist  of  white  lead,  linseed 
oil,  and  turpentine,  the  first  and  last  of  which  are  poisons.  Cheap 
paints  may  contain  as  pigments  nothing  more  dangerous  than  chalk 
or  barytes,  but  the  liquid  portion  may  be  so  strong  in  petroleum 
products  as  to  cause  acute  poisoning  among  men  who  are  obliged  to 
use  the  paint  in  small  ill-ventilated  inclosures. 


8  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUEEAU   OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

A  good  paint  is  made  by  grinding  pigments  in  linseed  oil  and  since 
the  raw  oil  dries  very  slowly  a  so-called  drier  is  added.  Oil  driers 
are  made  by  heating  linseed  oil  with  an  oxidizing  agent,  manganese 
dioxide,  or  the  oxides  of  lead,  to  which  is  added  a  volatile  oil  such  as 
petroleum  spirits  or  benzine.  Japan  driers  contain  gums  or  resins 
and  are  used  in  quick-drying  paints.  Turpentine  is  added  in  varying 
proportions,  a  larger  amount  for  paint  used  on  interior  work  than  for 
paint  which  is  to  be  used  outside  and  exposed  to  the  weather.  A 
typical  formula  for  paint  that  is  to  be  used  outside  is  the  following: 

Per  cent. 

Pigment 63 

Liquid 37 

Liquid. 

Linseed  oil 86.  0 

Japan  drier  (44  per  cent  solid,  56  per  cent  volatile) 5.  5 

Turpentine 5.  5 

Petroleum  spirits 3.  0 

A  typical  formula  for  paint  for  interior  work  calls  for  less  linceed 
oil,  because  of  the  tendency  of  this  oil  to  turn  yellow,  and  contains 
more  turpentine. 

Per  cent. 

Pigment 60 

Liquid 40 

Liquid. 

Linseed  oil 35 

Turpentine 39 

Japan  drier  (see  formula  above) 13 

Petroleum  spirits 12 

However,  in  cheaper  paints  the  oil  and  also  the  turpentine  may 
be  largely  displaced  by  petroleum  spirits. 

Gloss  paint  has  varnish  added  and  a  relatively  large  proportion 
of  oil;  flat  paint,  less  oil  and  more  turpentine,  but  in  cheap  flat  paints 
benzine  takes  the  place  of  most  of  the  turpentine.  In  cheap  gloss 
paints,  also,  the  amount  of  benzine  is  larger,  the  oil  being  supple- 
mented by  melted  rosin,  which  is  mixed  with  a  little  linseed  oil  and 
then  reduced  to  the  required  thinness  with  benzine.  On  the  whole, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  cheaper  the  paint  the  less  danger  there  is  from 
poisonous  pigments  and  the  greater  the  danger  from  volatile  poisons 
in  the  liquid  vehicle.  An  exception  to  this  rule  is  the  use  of  paints 
very  rich  in  turpentine,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  painting  of  the  cabins 
of  ships,  where  the  last  coat  consists  of  zinc  white  and  white  lead  in 
a  vehicle  that  is  almost  pure  turpentine. 

Other  volatile  substances  with  which  the  painter  may  come  in 
contact  more  or  less  arc  benzole,  amyl  acetate,  acetone,  and  wood 
alcohol. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE   PAIXTERS'    TRADE.  9 

PHYSIOLOGICAL    EFFECTS    PRODUCED    BY   LIQUID    CONSTITUENTS   OF  PAINT. 

LINSEED    OIL. 

It  has  long  been  believed  that  surfaces  freshly  painted  with  white 
lead  in  linseed  oil  give  off  fumes  or  emanations  which  may  cause 
more  or  less  distressing  symptoms  to  the  painters  and  still  more  to 
the  inhabitants  of  freshly  painted  rooms  who  are  not  accustomed 
to  these  fumes.  Among  the  symptoms  described  are  headache, 
dizziness,  nausea,  intestinal  pain,  vomiting,  diarrhea.  Such  cases 
have  been  reported  as  caused  by  lead  poisoning,  and  physicians 
have  insisted  that  their  occurrence  proved  the  presence  of  lead  in 
the  emanations  from  fresh  lead  and  oil  paint.  Oliver^  speaks  of  an 
outbreak  of  colic  among  the  sailors  on  a  French  man-of-war  which  was 
traced  to  the  fumes  from  fresh  lead  paint. 

In  the  Pasteur  institute  experiments  were  made  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Trillat  which  showed  that  fumes  from  white  lead  paint  are 
capable  of  hindering  the  growth  of  vegetable  molds.  This  was  not 
found  to  be  true  of  zinc  oxide  paint  nor  of  dry  white  lead  nor  of 
turpentine.  The  harmful  fumes  arose  from  white  lead  paint  only 
and  were  the  result  of  the  mixture  of  oil  and  white  lead. 

Similarly,  E.  C.  Baly,  F.  R.  S.,^  finds  that  certain  emanations  are 
given  off  from  surfaces  painted  with  white  lead  and  oil,  which  can 
not  be  obtained  from  white  lead  alone,  nor  oil  nor  turpentine  alone, 
emanations  which  may  give  rise  to  the  symptoms  described  above. 
However,  Baly  insists  that  the  fumes  in  question  do  not  contain  lead 
in  any  form,  but  consist  of  an  aldehyde.  He  made  spectroscopic 
absorption  tests  with  (1)  a  mixture  of  linseed  oil  and  white  lead,  (2) 
linseed  oil  and  zinc  white,  and  (3)  linseed  oil  and  basic  lead  sulphate, 
and  he  found  absorption  bands  from  the  white  lead  mixture  only, 
showing  that  some  volatile  substance  was  given  off  from  white  lead 
and  linseed  oil  but  not  from  the  other  mixtures.  Dry  white  lead 
gave  no  absorption  bands.  He  found  that  this  gaseous  product 
would  cause  symptoms  like  those  which  have  sometimes  been  inter- 
preted as  due  to  lead  poisoning  but  that  no  lead  could  be  demon- 
strated in  it.  One  would  not  expect  that  quickly  developmg  symp- 
toms would  foUow  the  inhaling  of  finely  divided  lead  salts,  for  all 
clinicians  and  experimenters  know  that  lead  is  fairly  slow  in  pro- 
ducing its  poisonous  effects. 

After  finding  that  these  same  absorption  bands  could  be  obtained 
with  lead  hydroxide  and  that  the  volatile  substance  was  an  unsatu- 
rated compound  of  great  reducing  power,  Baly  concludes  that  it  is 
in  all  probability  an  aldehyde.  The  addition  of  turpentme  increases 
the  production   of   this   aldehyde.     If   these   experiments   are   con- 

1  Bulletin  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  95,  p.  21. 
>  Journal  Soc.  Chem.  Indust.,  1912,  Vol.  xxxi,  p.  515. 


10  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUKEAU    OF    LABOE   STATISTICS. 

firmed,  wc  shall  have  to  regard  the  symptoms  experienced  by  per- 
sons who  sleep  in  rooms  freshly  painted  with  white  lead  linseed  oil 
paint  as  caused  by  a  transient  poisoning  from  aldehyde  fumes,  not 
as  lead  poisoning.^ 

TURPENTINE. 

Of  the  liquid  constituents  of  paint,  next  in  importance  to  the  lin- 
seed oil  comes  turpentine,  used  as  a  thinner  and  also  for  its  drying 
properties.  Oil  or  spirits  of  turpentine  is  produced  by  the  distillation 
of  gum  from  pine  trees.  It  absorbs  oxygen,  forming  a  resinous  body, 
and  this  process  is  hastened  by  the  presence  of  lead  oxide.  The 
odor  of  turpentme  is  distmctive,  and  all  experienced  painters  know 
when  they  are  working  with  a  paint  containing  it.  A  new  turpen- 
tine has  lately  come  into  use,  called  wood  turpentine,  which  is 
obtained  by  the  destructive  distillation  of  pine  wood  and  which  has 
a  much  more  disagreeable  tarry  odor  and  does  not  evaporate  as 
quickly  as  gum  turpentine.  Whether  or  not  the  physiological  effects 
are  different  from  those  of  gum  turpentine  is  not  known  as  yet, 
though  painters  who  have  used  it  say  that  the  odor  is  nauseating 
and  they  object  very  much  to  working  with  it.  House  and  ship 
painters  are  exposed  to  turpentine  fumes  often  and  for  long  periods 
of  time,  for  turpentine  is  a  constituent  of  varnish  as  well  as  of  paint. 

R.  von  Jaksch  ^  gives  as  the  symptoms  which  occur  in  men  working 
for  hours  in  turpentine-laden  air,  the  following:  Headache,  dizzi- 
ness, dry  throat,  frequent  cough,  indications  of  bronchitis,  and 
irritation  of  the  urinary  system,  as  shown  especially  by  strangury 
and  by  bloody  urine.  Turpentine  is  excreted  largely  by  the  kidneys, 
and  there  may  be  severe  pain  in  the  region  of  the  kidneys.  Nervous 
effects  are  sometimes  produced,  excitement,  staggering  gait,  con- 
vulsive movements,  or  even  loss  of  consciousness.  There  may  be 
inflammations  of  the  skin  of  various  kinds.  Chronic  nephritis  and 
clu-onic  cystitis  not  infrequently  result  from  long  exposure  to  these 
fumes.  E.  Schafer  ^  reports  a  case  of  fatal  poisoning  from  turpentine 
vapor. 

In  the  report  of  the  Commission  on  Occupational  Diseases  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  in  1911,  there  is  a  section  on  turpentine  poison- 
ing. The  investigators  (E.  R.  Hayhurst,  M.  D.;  T.  E.  Flynn,  M.  D.; 
and  K.  II.  XichoUs)  made  a  detailed  examination  of  62  painters  and 
varnishers  in  Chicago.  They  tried  to  select  older  workmen  who  had 
been  employed  chiefly  in  indoor  work,  and  to  rule  out  as  far  as 
possible  all  cases  of  lead  poisoning.     The  men  were  between  the 

>  It  is  well  to  remember  that  Daly's  experiments  were  made  with  pure  linseed  oil  and  white  lead,  while 
a  paint  in  aclunl  use  for  interior  worlc  would  not  belikely  to  contain  more  than  35  per  cent  of  linseed  oil, 

'  Die  VertjiftiinKcn.  Wieii  u.  Loipzlf,',  1910,  p.  4ori. 

'  Germany,  Kcichsamt  dcs  Inncrn.  Jahreslx'richte  der  Gewerbe-Aufsichtsbeamten  und  Bergbehorden, 
1909.    Berlin,  1910,  Bd.  HI,  pt.  26,  p.  19. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE   PAINTERS '  -TEADE.  11 

ages  of  24  and  64  years,  all  but  17  being  under  45  years,  and  all  but 
15  having  worked  more  than  10  years.  Most  of  these  62  men  stated 
that  they  had  suffered  more  or  less  frequently  from  drowsiness, 
headache,  nausea,  loss  of  appetite,  and  even  vomiting  and  dizziness 
while  working  with  turpentine.  Fifty-four  had  suffered  from  bladder 
trouble  at  times,  18  of  them  having  been  under  medical  treatment 
for  kidney  and  bladder  trouble.  Twenty-one  had  had  inflammation 
of  the  eyes.  Fourteen  complained  of  irritation  of  the  throat  and 
lungs,  and  7  of  skin  troubles.  A  careful  examination  was  made  of  44 
to  determine  the  presence  of  kidney  disease,  and  14  of  them,  or  31.8 
per  cent,  proved  to  have  organic  kidney  disease. 

It  is  not  possible  to  determine  positively  how  much  the  turpentine 
vapor  had  to  do  with  these  conditions,  but  it  can  not  be  doubted 
that  it  is  a  fairly  frequent  cause  of  inflammation  of  the  bladder  and 
less  frequently  of  the  kidneys.  Ship  painters  suffer  more  from 
turpentine  fumes  than  do  house  painters,  owing  to  the  small  un- 
ventilated  spaces  in  which  they  often  have  to  work,  and  to  the  large 
quantities  of  turpentine  used  in  the  work. 

PETROLEUM    SPIRITS,  BENZINE,  AND    NAPHTHA. 

These  are  trade  names  given  to  the  heavier  distillation  products  of 
petroleum,  with  a  boiling  point  between  220°  and  300°  F.  They  are 
used  in  high-class  paints  in  combination  with  turpentine  as  driers, 
but  in  cheap  paints  they  may  form  the  greater  part  of  the  vehicle, 
displacing  almost  entirely  linseed  oil  and  turpentine.  The  pro- 
portion of  volatile  drier  in  the  total  Hquid  content  of  a  paint  should 
not  be  over  4  to  7  per  cent,^  but  cheap  paints  may  contain  as  much 
as  40.78  per  cent.  The  petroleum  derivatives  are  used  for  many 
other  purposes  by  painters.  They  are  important  constituents  of  var- 
nish and  of  paint  and  varnish  removers,  usually  combined  in  the 
latter  with  more  powerful  solvents  such  as  benzole,  acetone,  and  wood 
alcohol.  When  a  wall  is  to  be  calcimined  the  plaster  must  first  be 
covered  with  some  gummy  material  to  prevent  suction,  to  prevent 
the  calcimine  from  soaking  in.  Different  sizes  are  used  for  this  pur- 
pose; an  oU-paint  size,  or  one  made  of  glue,  or  a  varnish  size.  This 
last  is  a  mixture  of  hard  gum,  oil,  and  turpentine  thinned  with  ben- 
zine. The  painters  call  it  ''hard  oil,"  and  practically  aU  of  them 
complain  of  the  discomfort  they  experience  from  benzine  vapors 
when  they  are  "hard  oiling." 

Symptoms  caused  by  benzine  vapors  in  workmen  have  been  de- 
scribed by  several  German  writers,^  who  note  the  increasing  number 

1  E.  C.  Ladd  and  C.  D.  Holley,  in  Bulletin  No.  70,  North  Dakota  Agricultural  College,  Government 
Station. 

2  Zeitschrift  ffir  Gewerbehygiene,  Wien,  1907.    Vol.  14,  p.  157.    Berthenson,  Deutsche  Vierteljahrsschrif* 
fur  oflentliche  Gesundheitspflege,  Braunschweig,  1898.  Vol.  30,  p.  315. 


12  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUKEAU    OF    LABOE    STATISTICS. 

of  cases  of  industrial  poisoning  from  the  use  of  these  substances  in 
recent  years.  The  nervous  system  is  the  one  most  affected,  for  these 
compounds  have  a  special  affinity  for  certain  elements  of  nerve  tissue. 
There  is  a  sense  of  pressure  in  the  head,  singing  or  roaring  in  the 
ears,  headache,  sense  of  confusion,  dizziness,  inability  to  do  fine 
work,  and  a  loss  of  muscular  strength.  The  symptoms  may  be  much 
like  those  of  alcohoUc  intoxication,  staggering,  clouding  of  the 
memory,  even  hallucinations  of  sight  and  hearing.  The  next  morning 
the  benzine-poisoned  painter  feels  as  if  he  were  recovering  from  a 
fit  of  drunkenness.  A  very  large  dose  of  naphtha  or  benzine  fumes, 
as  would  result  from  working  in  a  small  ill-ventilated  place,  has 
been  known  to  cause  labored  respiration,  rapid  pulse,  collapse  with 
complete  unconsciousness,  and,  more  rarelj^,  convulsions.  Chronic 
poisoning  gives  rise  to  disturbed  digestion,  chronic  broncliitis,  nerv- 
ousness, excitability^,  trembling  muscles,  loss  of  strength,  and  even 
impaired  mentahty.  There  are  also  chronic  skin  troubles,  caused  by 
benzine  and  naphtha.  ^ 

Petroleum,  coal  tar,  is  used  in  combination  with  rosin  and  asphalt 
in  the  so-called  bituminous  composition,  used  for  painting  the 
water  bottoms  of  ships  and  for  bridges  and  railway  water  tanks. 
This  pamt  must  be  applied  hot,  and  it  gives  off  thick  fumes  which 
are  very  irritating  to  the  mucous  membrane  and  to  the  eyes  and 
cause  nausea,  headache,  and  symptoms  of  intoxication.  Skin  dis- 
eases, acne,  ulcerations,  etc.,  are  said  to  be  more  frequent  in  workers 
with  petroleum  than  in  workers  with  benzine  and  naphtha.  Crude 
petroleum  contains  sulphur  compounds  which  increase  its  poisonous 
qualities. 

BENZOLE. 

Commercial  benzole  is  a  mixture  of  liydrocarbons  containing  about 
40  per  cent  of  benzene  (Cellg),  a  very  volatile  liquid  which  has  power- 
ful solvent  properties  and  penetrates  deeply.  On  this  account  it  is 
used  in  primers  on  hardwoods,  but  it  can  not  be  used  in  finishmg 
coats  because  it  would  act  as  a  paint  remover,  it  is  so  strong  a  solvent. 
Benzole  is  considered  the  best  substance  for  paint  and  varnish  re- 
moving. 

Because  of  its  increasing  use  in  many  manufacturmg  processes, 
there  has  been  a  good  deal  written  of  late,  especially  in  Germany,  on 
the  i^oisonous  effects  of  the  vapors  of  benzole  or  benzene,-  and  the 
Germans  distinguish  clearly  between  poisoning  from  this  substance 
and  poisoning  from  benzine,  wliich  is  less  volatile  and  less  dangerous. 
Von  Jaksch  ^  says  that  the  inliulation  of  benzole  fumes  may  be  rapidly 

>  n.  von  Jaksch,  Die  Vergiftungen.  Wien  u.  Leipzig,  1910. 

'  I^ewin,  MUnohener  medizinische  Wochensclirift,  Miinchon,  1<K)7,  vol.  54,  p.  2377. 

'  Idem. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE    PAINTERS '  TRADE.  13 

fatal  and  quotes  a  case  reported  by  Beinhaiier  ^  in  which  there  were 
changes  found  in  the  blood,  a  solution  of  the  red  blood  corpuscles, 
hemorrhages  into  the  organs  and  mucous  membranes,  and  paren- 
chymatous degeneration  of  the  organs.  The  symptoms  of  acute 
benzole  poisoning  are  headache,  dizziness,  a  flushed  face  followed  by 
cyanosis,  nervous  excitement  (like  that  caused  by  alcohol),  hallu- 
cinations, delhium,  or  coma.  In  chronic  cases  there  is  inflammation 
and  ulceration  of  the  gums  and  lips,  as  in  scurvy. 

WOOD  ALCOHOL  OR  METHYL  ALCOHOL. 

The  greater  number  of  victims  of  wood-alcohol  poisoning  have 
drunk  the  poison  with  adulterated  whisky,  but  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  wood  alcohol  for  industrial  purposes  there  has  been  an  in- 
creasing number  of  cases  reported  in  which  the  poisoning  has  taken 
place  through  the  lungs  by  the  inhalation  of  fumes.  These  men  have 
been  chiefly  varnishers,  using  shellac  or  varnish.^  The  symptoms 
are  hoarseness,  headache,  ringing  in  the  ears,  trembling,  difficult 
breathing,  nausea,  convulsive  twitching  of  the  muscles,  impairment  of 
sight,  a  mist  or  veil  before  the  eyes;  severe  cases  suffer  from  weakness 
of  the  heart,  delirium,  coma,  and  after  consciousness  is  regained  more 
or  less  complete  blindness.^  This  impairment  of  the  sight  is  charac- 
teristic of  wood-alcohol  poisoning  and  makes  this  the  most  serious 
poison  the  varnisher  and  painter  have  to  deal  with.  Fortunately, 
during  the  last  two  years  it  has  been  largely  displaced  by  denatured 
alcohol. 

AMYL  ACETATE. 

What  the  painters  caD  "banana  oil"  is  usually  a  mixture  of  amyl 
acetate,  acetone,  and  benzine.  Amyl  acetate  is  a  derivative  of  fusel 
oil  and  acetic  acid  and  is  used  in  varnishes,  in  bronzing,  silvering 
and  gilding  fluids  and  in  paint  and  varnish  removers,  as  it  is  a  very 
powerfid  solvent  for  gums  of  all  kinds.  The  fumes  are  narcotic, 
causing  headache,  giddiness,  confusion,  drowsiness,  nausea,  and  dis- 
turbed digestion,  palpitation  of  the  heart,  and  difficulty  in  breathing.* 

ACETONE. 

Acetone  ((CH3)2CO)  is  also  a  strong  solvent  of  gums  and  resins  and 
therefore  used  in  much  the  same  way  as  amyl  acetate.  There  is 
nothing  to  be  found  in  the  literature  as  to  the  toxic  properties  of  this 
substance. 

1  Lewin,  Miinchener  medizinisclie  Wochenschrift,  Miinchen,  1896,  vol.  43,  p.  915. 

2  Casey  Wood,  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1912,  vol.  2. 

3  R.  von  Jaksch,  Die  Vergiftungen.    Wien  u.  Leipzig,  1910,  p.  277. 

*  Th.  Sommerfeld,  Bulletin  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  100. 


14  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

CARBON  DISULPHIDE. 

This  very  powerful  poison,  which  causes  serious  damage  to  the  red 
blood  cor])Uscles  and  to  the  nervous  system,  is  mentioned  in  a  recent 
German  publication  ^  as  a  new  ingredient  in  certain  quickly  drying 
paints.  In  this  country  the  use  of  this  dangerous  substance  has  not 
yet  passed  the  experimental  stage,  except  that  it  is  employed  to  a 
slight  extent  in  metal  polishes. 

CORROSIVE  POISONS. 

It  was  formerly  necessary  for  painters  to  handle  strong  bleaching 
fluids  in  preparing  surfaces  of  wood  and  metal,  but  these  have  been 
graduall}^  abandoned,  and  carbolic  acid  and  oxalic  acid  and  potash 
are  not  used  to  nearly  the  same  extent  now  as  a  few  years  ago. 
These  are  all  corrosive  poisons,  and  when  they  come  in  contact  with 
the  skin  they  cause  a  spreading  inflammation,  with  painful  and  slowly 
healing  ulcers.  The  painters  have  always  objected  very  much  to 
their  use,  and  it  is  largely  on  account  of  this  that  these  bleaching 
agents  have  been  gradually  discarded. 

FLAT=FINISH  PAINTS. 

At  present  there  are  on  the  market  numbers  of  quick-drying  ''dull- 
coat"  or  "flat-finish"  paints  which  are  comparatively  cheap,  easily 
applied,  and  require  no  rubbing.  As  a  usual  thmg  these  paints  are 
leadless,  the  pigment  consisting  of  zinc  white  or  lithopone  or  the 
cheaper  inert  pigments.  There  is,  however,  a  quick-drying  white- 
lead  paint  made  for  carriages  and  railway  cars.  The  Germans  have 
already  called  attention  to  the  dangers  of  these  new  paints  and  point 
out  the  fact  that  rapid  drying  means  a  large  quantity  of  volatile  sub- 
stance in  the  paint,  and  this  substance  is  always  one  of  the  petroleum 
products,  wdth  a  varying  proportion  of  turpentine.  Grotjahn  and 
Kaup  ^  speak  of  the  possibility  of  fatal  poisoning  as  a  result  of  work- 
ing with  quick-drying  paints  in  small  unventUated  inclosures,  and 
E.  Schaefer  ^  utters  the  same  warning.  If,  however,  the  })aint  can 
be  applied  in  well-ventilated  rooms  there  is  practically  no  danger 
attended  with  its  use;  and  the  introduction  of  a  leadless  paint  for 
interior  work  marks  a  great  step  forward  in  the  hygiene  of  this 
industry. 

PHYSIOLOGICAL    EFFECTS. 

In  December,  1912,  Dr.  John  H.  Landis,  health  oflicer  of  the  city 
of  Cincinnati,  reported  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  that  a  num- 
ber of  painters  had  complained  to  him  of  various  distressing  symp- 

•  E.  Schacfpr,  Germany,  Ucichsanit  dos  Iimcrn.  Jahresbfirlclite  der  Ocworbe-Aubicht8beamten  iind 
BergVjchonlon,  1909.    Berlin,  1910,  IJd.  Ill,  pt.  2."),  p.  20. 

«  llandworlcrbueh  d.  sozialeu  Hygiene.    Soparatabdruck,  1912,  Leipzig. 

•  Log.  cit. 


HYGIENE    OF   THE   PAINTERS '    TRADE.  15 

toms  which  were  caused  by  the  use  of  certain  brands  of  fiat-finish 
dull  surface  paints  in  interior  work  when  the  ventilation  was  very 
faulty.  Dr.  Landis  requested  that  an  inquiry  be  made  by  the 
Bureau  to  ascertain  the  substance  or  substances  in  these  paints 
which  were  responsible  for  the  disorders  complained  of,  and  in 
pursuance  of  this  an  investigation  was  made  in  Cincinnati  in  the 
coui'se  of  which  nine  painters  were  interviewed,  all  of  whom  had 
had  much  experience  with  this  kind  of  paint.  These  men  were 
members  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Painters  and  Decorators  and  were 
very  intelligent  men,  able  to  give  a  clear  and  detailed  history  of 
their  experience  to  the  examining  physicians.  Theii"  histories  may 
be  condensed  as  follows: 

After  a  longer  or  shorter  period  of  employment  with  the  paint  in 
question,  a  period  usually  of  two  or  three  days,  dependent  on  the 
closeness  of  the  room  in  which  the  work  was  done,  the  man  would 
begin  to  suffer  from  dizziness,  headache,  spots  before  the  eyes,  dry- 
ness and  choking  feeling  in  the  throat,  burning  of  the  eyelids.  Appe- 
tite was  always  interfered  with  and  six  of  the  nine  complained  of 
nausea,  four  of  frequent  vomiting.  Pain  of  a  coUcky  character 
was  felt  in  the  region  of  the  navel  in  five  cases,  along  the  margin  of 
the  ribs  in  three,  and  in  the  lumbar  region  in  three.  One  man  suf- 
fered from  ulcers  on  the  lips  and  gums.  In  the  morning  there 
would  be  a  feeling  of  "dopiness;"  sleep  had  brought  no  refreshment, 
and  the  man  felt  as  if  he  had  worked  all  night.  Constipation  was 
not  common,  but  more  or  less  strangury  and  painful  urination  was 
complained  of  by  five  men.  One  man  who  had  used  the  paint  for 
two  years  had  suffered  severely  from  bladder  trouble,  resulting  in  a 
chronic  cystitis.  Three  years  before  he  had  been  accepted  by  a  life 
insurance  company,  but  at  this  time  he  had  just  been  rejected  for  a 
second  policy  because  he  was  found  to  have  albuminuria.  A  cys- 
toscopic  examination  showed  catarrhal  cystitis. 

Disturbances  of  sight  (transient  always)  occurred  in  six  of  the  nine 
men.  Usually  the  man  described  it  as  a  veil  or  cloud  before  the  eyes, 
sometimes  as  floating  spots. 

Some  of  the  men  said  that  toward  the  end  of  the  day  they  could 
no  longer  do  the  finer  work,  partly  because  of  dizziness,  partly  be- 
cause of  impaired  sight.  One  man  fell  from  the  scaffold  because 
"everything  went  black  before  his  eyes,"  another  began  to  stagger 
and  had  to  be  half  carried  out  into  the  open  air,  while  another  was 
blinded  and  had  to  be  led  out  of  the  room.  In  some  cases,  curiously 
enough,  the  weakness,  nausea,  and  dizziness  were  felt  when  the  man 
first  got  out  into  the  fresh  air.  One  man  said  that  he  always  would 
stagger  then,  though  he  could  walk  steadily  inside. 


16  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF   LABOE   STATISTICS, 

It  was  evident  that  the  substance  which  gave  rise  to  these  sjrmp- 
toms  was  not  any  compound  of  lead,  or  indeed  any  part  of  the  pig- 
ment content  of  the  paint,  but  a  volatile  constituent,  with  a  special 
affinity  for  the  central  nervous  system.  This  was  shown  not  only 
by  the  character  of  the  symptoms,  but  by  the  rapidity  of  their  de- 
velopment and  the  fact  that  they  subsided  to  a  large  extent  in  the 
fresh  air.  The  men  stated  that  the  paints  dried  very  rapidly,  and 
that  air  must  be  excluded  from  the  room  as  much  as  possible  lest 
the  drying  take  place  so  quickly  that  by  the  time  the  painter  had 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  wall  he  would  find  that  the  edge  of  the 
paint  at  the  top  had  begun  to  dry,  and  a  streak  would  show  between 
it  and  the  fresh  paint  applied  next  to  it.  Any  draft  of  air  would  turn 
streaky  the  fresh  paint.  The  worst  trouble  was  experienced  by  some 
men  who  were  employed  on  a  big  cheap  apartment  house.  Each 
apartment  had  a  tiny  kitchen  with  no  outside  windows  and  the  walls 
were  painted  with  this  dull-finish  paint.  The  men  could  work  only 
two  hours  at  a  time;  then  they  were  obliged  to  go  out  on  the  fire 
escape  for  an  hour  to  get  rid  of  the  headache,  dizziness  and  choking, 
and  the  smarting  and  watering  of  the  eyes.  On  a  damp,  heavy  day 
the  evils  of  the  work  were  all  accentuated. 

ANALYSIS    OF    SAMPLES    OF    FLAT=FINISH    PAINTS. 

Samples  of  two  of  these  paints  were  analyzed  by  the  Bureau  of 
Standards,  and  the  reports  of  the  analyses  as  given  below  show 
that  there  is  nothing  poisonous  in  the  pigments,  but  that  there  is 
an  excessive  amount  of  volatile  thinner,  in  this  case  benzine  with 
turpentine. 

REPORT    OF    UNITED     STATES     BUREAU    OF     STANDARDS    ON     CHEMICAL 

ANALYSIS    OF    PxVINT. 

Flat-finish  paint  No.  1. 

PAIXT. 

Per  cent. 

Pigment CO.  7 

Oil 10. 1 

Volatile 29.  2 


A  nalysis.  Probable  composition. 

Percent.  Percent. 


Oxides  of  iron  and  aluminum 0.  3 

Zinc  oxide 31.  8 

Lime 13.  2 

Magnesia 9 

Carbon  dioxide 10.  7 

Sulphuric  anhydride 4 

Sulphur 3. 1 

Insoluble 41.  3 


Oxides  of  ii'on  and  aluminum 0.  3 

Zinc  sulphide 9.  3 

Zinc  oxide 24.0 

Calcium  carbonate 22. 1 

Magnesia  carbonate 1.  8 

Calcium  sulphate 1.  0 

Barium  sulphate 25. 1 

Magnesia  silicate 16.  2 


HYGIENE    OF    THE   PAINTERS '    TRADE.  17 

Pigment  is  lithopone  with  excess  of  zinc  oxide,  calcium  carbonate,  and  magnesia 
silicate. 

Oil. — Resin  not  detected. 

Volatile.— Sp.  gr.  at  15.5°  C.  (59.9°  F.),  0.785;  refractive  index  at  20°  C.  (68°  F.), 
1.437.  Tests  indicate  that  the  volatile  is  benzine  with  about  20  per  cent  turpentine. 
Film  dries  in  about  35  minutes,  and  after  24  hours  at  105°  C.  (221°  F.),  it  is  hard  and 
fairly  elastic. 

Flat-finish  paint  N'o.  2. 

PAINT. 

Per  cent. 

Pigment 67.  7 

Oil 10.3 

Volatile 22.  0 


Analysis.  ProbaMe  composition. 

Per  cent.  Per  cent. 

Oxides  of  iron  and  aluminum 0.  7 

Lead  oxide 1 

Zinc  oxide 19.  3 

Lime 5 

Magnesia 4. 4 

Carbon  dioxide 2.  5 

Sulphuric  anhydride 4 

Sulphur 6.  7 

Insoluble 67.  7 


Oxides  of  ii-on  and  aluminum 0.  7 

Zinc  sulphide 20.  2 

Zinc  oxide 2.  5 

Lead  oxide 1 

Calcium  sulphate 1.  Q 

Basic  magnesia  carbonate 7.  8 

Barium  sulphate 53.  5 

Magnesia  silicate 14.  2 


Pigment  is  lithopone  with  a  trace  of  lead  and  considerable  magnesia  carbonate  and 
silicate. 

Oil. — Resin  not  detected. 

Volatile.— Sp.  gr.  at  15.5°  C.  (59.9°  F.),  0.784;  refractive  index  at  20°  C.  (68°  F.), 
1.436.  Tests  indicate  that  the  volatile  is  benzine  with  about  20  per  cent  turpentine. 
Film  dries  in  about  45  minutes,  and  after  24  hours  at  105°  C.  (221°  F.),  it  is  hard  and 
fairly  elastic. 

The  part  of  this  analysis  that  interests  us  is  the  liquid  vehicle,  a3 
the  pigment  is  harmless.  The  ingredients  in  the  vehicle — oil,  turpen- 
tine, and  benzine — are  the  same  as  those  found  in  lead  paints,  but  the 
proportions  in  which  they  are  mixed  are  quite  different  from  those  in 
the  typical  formula  given  on  page  8.  The  formula  for  mterior  paint 
given  there  calls  for  35  per  cent  of  oil,  39  per  cent  of  turpentine,  and 
only  12  per  cent  of  petroleum  spirits.  In  these  flat-finish  paints  the 
proportions  in  the  vehicle  are  as  follows:  No.  1,  oil  25.7  per  cent, 
volatile  liquid  74.3  per  cent,  of  which  14.9  per  cent  is  turpentine  and 
59.4  per  cent  benzine.  For  No.  2,  oil  31.9  per  cent,  volatile  liquid 
68.1  per  cent,  of  which  13.6  per  cent  is  turpentine  and  54,5  per  cent 
benzine.  This  enormous  proportion  of  benzine  explains  why  the 
paint  dries  so  rapidly  and  why  currents  of  air  must  be  excluded 
from  the  room  which  is  beiag  painted.  It  is  clear  that  these  painters 
were  suffering  from  symptoms  of  acute  benzine  poisoning,  compli- 
cated in  one  case  at  least  with  chronic  turpentine  poisoning. 
92589°— 13 2 


18  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

PIGMENTS. 

The  orily  pigments  which  concern  us  in  this  study  are  the  lead 
salts,  namely  (1)  white  lead,  or  basic  carbonate  of  lead  (approxi- 
mately, 2  PbC03(OH)2);  (2)  sublimed  white  lead,  or  basic  lead 
sulphate  (approj?:imately  2  PbSO  2  PbO,  the  proportion  of  oxide  being 
variable);  (3)  red  lead  and  orange  mineral  (Pb304,  or  2PbO-Pb02); 
(4)  chrome  yellow,  or  lead  chromate  (PbCr04) ;  (5)  chrome  green, 
or  Brunswick  or  Prussian  green,  a  mixture  of  yellow  chromate  wdth 
Prussian  blue.  Of  these,  the  first  has  by  far  the  most  general  use, 
expecially  for  exterior  work.  Lead  sulphate  (sublimed  white  lead 
or  basic  lead  sulphate)  has  come  into  increasing  use  of  late  years, 
sometimes  as  a  substitute  for  white  lead,  sometimes  in  combination 
with  the  latter.  There  a±e,  of  course,  many  paints  on  the  market 
which  are  supposed  to  contain  white  lead,  but  which  are  really  made 
up  of  cheaper  leadless  substitutes.  The  law  of  North  Dakota  requires 
that  all  paint  sold  in  that  State  be  clearly  labeled  with  the  ingredients 
it  contains,  and  similar  "pure  paint"  laws  to  protect  the  buyer  are 
now  in  force  in  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  Vermont, 
and  bills  are  pending  in  Pennsylvaiiia  and  Ohio. 

Red  lead  has  long  been  held  to  be  the  best  paint  for  metals  on 
account  of  its  elasticity  and  rust-preventing  properties.  Objections 
to  the  use  of  red  lead  are  based  on  its  expensiveness  and  the  fact 
that  it  is  troublesome  to  use.  When  mixed  with  linseed  oil  it  settles 
and  cakes  in  a  short  time  so  that  it  can  not  be  put  on  the  market 
ready  for  use,  but  must  be  mixed  fresh  by  the  painter  every  day  or 
so.  At  present  there  are  red  lead  paints  prepai-ed  with  the  addition 
of  lighter  inert  substances  which  prevent  the  settling;  neverthe- 
less red  lead  is  beiug  largely  displaced  by  carbon  paint,  graphite,  iron 
oxides,  chromatized  paints,  and  coal  tar  paints  for  covering  metallic 
surfaces,  such  as  structural  iron,  bridges,  water  tanks,  gas  tanks,  etc. 
On  certain  parts  of  structural  iron  and  of  bridges  and  railway  cars, 
red  lead  is  still  considered  essential  by  most  contractors,  but  for 
the  painting  of  agricultural  implements  it  has  quite  given  way  to 
the  cheaj)  German  para  reds.  Orange  mineral  is  used  largely  in 
wagon  painting. 

There  is  not  nearly  as  much  demand  for  chrome  yellow  as  for- 
merly, aniline  colors  and  ochres  being  used  instead.  It  is  still  used 
for  tinting  in  house  painting  and  on  farm  wagons  and  railway  coaches. 
Chrome  green  still  holds  its  own  as  a  paint  for  window  shutters. 

RELATIVE  POISONOUSNESS  OP  THE  DIFFERENT  LEAD  COMPOUNDS. 

There  has  been  much  dispute  among  scientists  as  to  the  relative 
poisonousness  of  the  different  lead  salts.  For  a  long  time  it  was 
assumed  that  the  more  readily  a  lead  compound  dissolved  in  dilute 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS'   TEADE.  19 

hydrochloric  acid  (the  degree  of  dilution  being  about  the  same  as  that 
in  human  gastric  juice)  the  more  poisonous  it  was.  Then  Blum's 
experiments  seemed  to  show  that  the  action  of  gastric  juice  is  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  a  simple  solution  of  hydrochloric  acid  and  that 
animals  can  be  poisoned  by  feeding  on  lead  salts  which  are  almost 
insoluble  in  dilute  hydrocliloric  acid.^  The  presence  of  a  little  pep- 
tone (the  product  of  gastric  digestion  of  albuminous  food)  was  found 
to  favor  the  solution  of  these  salts.  Leymann,^  therefore,  classifies 
the  poisonous  lead  salts  according  to  the  degree  of  solubility  in 
gastric  juice  although,  he  adds,  other  things  being  equal  a  compound 
is  dangerous  in  proportion  to  its  dustiness. 

Among  the  more  commonly  used  lead  salts  many  would  class  as 
the  most  poisonous  the  basic  carbonate  (what  we  know  as  ''corroded 
white  lead,"  or  ''Old  Dutch  process,"  or  "Carter  process,"  or  ''pre- 
cipitated white  lead"),  because  it  is  more  soluble  in  the  gastric  juice 
than  red  lead,  but  others  would  place  red  lead  first  because  it  is 
lighter  and  more  fluffy.  In  the  dry  state  (mixing  paint  or  sand- 
papering or  chipping  off  old  paint)  red  lead  is  probably  more  dangerous 
than  white  lead,  but  as  a  paint  the  reverse  is  probably  true.  The 
yellow  chromate  was  long  considered  fairly  harmless  and  factory  rules 
applying  to  white  lead  and  red  lead  were  not  made  to  cover  the  use  of 
the  chromate  either  in  England  or  Germany.  Then  K.  B.  Lehmann^ 
tested  this  salt  on  animals  and  as  a  result  of  his  experiments  lead 
chromate  is  now  considered  as  about  on  a  par  with  red  lead  in  harm- 
fulness.  The  sulphate  of  lead,  the  basic  sulphate  or  oxysulphate, 
often  called  sublimed  lead,  is  beginning  to  be  an  important  con- 
stituent of  paint.  For  a  long  time  it  was  considered  quite  harmless, 
for  it  is  very  sparingly  soluble  in  dilute  acids.  It  used  to  be  the 
practice  among  English  physicians,  and  still  is  the  practice  of  some 
American  physicians,  to  recommend  a  weak  sulphuric  acid  drink  for 
workmen  exposed  to  lead  poisoning,  under  the  impression  that  this 
will  cause  the  poisonous  lead  compounds  which  enter  the  stomach  to 
change  into  the  harmless  sulphate. 

LEAD    POISONING    IN    FACTORIES    MAKING    SULPHATE    OF    LEAD. 

Advocates  of  lead  sulphate  as  a  substitute  for  the  carbonate  have 
often  made  very  emphatic  statements  as  to  the  harmlessness  of  the 
sulphate,  and  since  the  use  of  the  latter  is  increasing  all  the  time  it 
seemed  desirable  that  careful  investigation  be  made  of  the  poisonous 
or  nonpoisonous  nature  of  lead  sulphate  when  handled  in  dry  form, 
as  a  paint,  or  as  a  paint  dust. 

1  Blum,  Wiener  medizinische  Wochenschrift,  Wien,  1904.    Bd.  54,  p.  538. 

s  Bekampfung  der  Bleigefahr  in  der  Industrie.    Jena,  1908. 

8  Archiv  fiir  Hygiene,  Miinchen  und  Leipzig,  1892-3.    Vol.  16,  p.  316. 


20  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

There  are  two  factories  which  make  sublimed  lead,  or  basic  sul- 
phate of  lead,  and  in  both  of  them  there  is  plenty  of  lead  poisoning, 
because  the  process  is  extremely  dusty  and  the  men  breathe  large 
quantities  of  finely  divided  sulphate.  In  both  places  the  method  of 
obtaining  the  sulphate  is  essentially  the  same.  The  product  is 
obtained  by  a  sublimation  process,  the  fumes  from  the  furnaces 
passing  through  gooseneck  flues  to  end  in  large  dust  bags  where  the 
finer  part  collects. 

The  coarser  powder,  used  in  manufacturing  rubber,  falls  into  hop- 
pers from  the  flues,  but  the  finer,  wdiich  is  the  basis  of  paint,  has  to  be 
shaken  out  of  the  bags.  Twice  in  their  8-hoar  siiift  the  men  enter 
the  great  bag  house  where  white  cotton  bags  hang  in  rows  like 
enormous  organ  pipes,  and  walking  in  among  them  they  beat  or 
shake  them  to  dislodge  the  white  sulphate  which  has  collected  inside. 
It  is  easy  to  understand  what  an  excessively  dusty  piece  of  work 
this  is,  and  even  if  a  man  wears  a  respirator  some  of  the  dust  must 
get  in.  The  sublimed  sulphate  is  very  light  and  fluffy  and  so  fuU 
of  air  that  it  is  difficult  to  pack  down  and  requires  pounding  and 
stamping. 

In  one  of  these  plants,  where  45  to  50  men  are  employed  in  the  lead- 
sulphate  department,  a  system  of  regular  medical  examinations  had 
been  instituted  a  little  while  before  this  investigation  was  made,  and 
the  physicians'  records  showed  that  18  of  the  sulphate  men  had  been 
examined  recently.  Two  of  them  had  to  be  left  out  of  consid- 
eration, as  they  had  been  employed  less  than  four  weeks,  but  of  the 
remaining  16,  11  showed  the  load  line  on  their  gums  and  5  showed 
evidence  of  plumbism,  a  proportion  of  almost  one  to  tliree.  In  the 
second  plant  no  records  were  kept  and  no  information  could  be 
obtained  from  the  company  doctor,  but  a  search  among  the  employees 
brought  to  light  12  recent  cases  of  acute  plumbism  among  the  45  men 
employed  in  the  sulphate  department.  Of  course  this  does  not 
include  all  of  the  Icad-poisoncd  men,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  the  proportion  of  men  poisoned  is  lower  here  than  in  the  first 
factory. 

This  shows  that  lead  sulphate  is  undeniably  poisonous,  for  the 
amount  of  lead  poisoning  in  these  two  sulphate  plants  is  as  great  as 
one  would  expect  in  a  lead-carbonate  plant.  This  does  not  mean 
that  the  sulphate  is  as  poisonous  as  the  carbonate.  The  work  in  both 
these  sulphate  ])lants  is  much  dustier  than  in  any  part  of  an  old 
Dutch  process  factory,  except  perhaps  the  dry-pan  room  of  an  old- 
fashioned  plant,  and  it  is  dust  chiefly  that  causes  lead  poisoning. 
The  sulphate  dc])artraent  bears  a  bad  reputation  in  both  factories, 
and  the  men  regard  the  work  there  as  more  dangerous  than  that  in 
any  other  department,  except  the  litharge  and  the  open  hearths. 
The  choking  dust  is  the  worst  feature.     Both  plants  have  washing 


HYGIENE    OF   THE   PAINTEKS ',  TKADE.  21 

facilities  for  their  men,  and  it  is  probably  true  that  poisoning  takes 
place  through  what  is  breathed  in  rather  than  what  is  carried  into 
the  mouth  from  dirty  fingers,  although  the  men  say  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  wash  the  stuff  off,  it  sticks  so  obstinately  to  the  skin. 

LEAD    POISONING    IN    A    FACTORY    USING    LEAD    CARBONATE    AND    LEAD 

SULPHATE. 

As  for  the  poisonousness  of  lead-sulphate  paint  as  compared  with 
lead-carbonate  paint,  an  experiment  on  a  large  scale  was  recently 
made  and  the  results,  though  not  absolutely  conclusive,  are  certainly 
suggestive.  In  January,  1912,  a  railway  car  company,  which  had 
always  used  white-lead  paint  (basic  carbonate)  in  the  interior  paint- 
mg  of  coaches  and  also  for  the  outside  of  passenger  coaches,  began  to 
use  a  paint  containing  the  basic  sulphate  or  oxysulphate  in  the  place 
of  the  carbonate.  There  had  always  been  much  lead  poisoning  among 
the  four  hundred  and  odd  painters,  especially  those  who  were  obliged 
to  paint  and  sandpaper  walls  and  ceilings  inside  the  cars.  Up  to 
that  time  no  attempt  had  been  made  to  protect  the  men  in  any 
way,  no  facilities  given  them  for  cleanliness,  no  medical  care  or 
instruction,  although  many  of  those  who  did  the  most  dangerous 
part  of  the  work  were  newly  arrived  foreigners.  Soon  after  the 
change  in  the  paint  the  company  entirely  revolutionized  the  method 
of  treating  the  workmen.  Two  completely  equipped  comfort 
houses  were  opened  with  every  facility  for  washing  and  bathing, 
overalls  and  caps  were  provided  and  kept  in  good  order,  lunch  rooms 
opened,  and  overseers  put  in  charge  to  see  that  the  men  made  full 
use  of  all  these  things.  Physicians  were  engaged  to  examine  all  new 
men  applying  for  work  in  this  particular  department  and  to  examine 
once  a  week  each  employee  who  handled  lead  paint.  In  short,  the 
rules  in  force  in  European  countries  for  the  protection  of  workere  in 
white  lead  were  followed  here. 

The  physicians'  records  covered  three  periods,  the  first  running 
from  July  1  to  December  31,  1911,  during  which  time  the  company 
was  experimenting  with  lead-sulphate  paint  and  carrying  on  investi- 
gations to  ascertain,  how  much  lead  poisoning  there  was  among  the 
painters.  During  the  second  period,  from  January  1  to  March  1, 
1912,  lead-sulphate  paint  was  used  exclusively,  but  sanitary  pro- 
visions for  the  painters  were  not  yet  complete.  The  third  period 
from  March  1,  1912,  to  April  20,  1913,  represents  the  present  state  of 
affairs,  viz:  Basic  lead-sulphate  paint,  excellent  sanitary  equip- 
ment and  supervision,  and  regular  medical  inspection.  During  the 
first  six  months  an  average  of  489  men  were  examined  monthly,  and 
109  cases  of  plumbism  were  discovered,  giving  an  average  of  18  a 
month.     In  the  next  two  months,  making  the  second  period,   an 


22  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU   OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

average  of  649  men  were  examined  and  16  cases  of  plumbism  found, 
or  8  a  month.  The  thii'd  period  covers  more  than  13  months,  and 
during  this  time  the  average  number  of  men  examined  monthly- 
has  been  639  and  only  3  cases  of  lead  poisoning  have  been  found. 
Thus  the  lead  poisoning  in  this  workshop  fell  from  an  average  of  18 
cases  a  month  in  a  force  of  489  men  to  an  average  of  ^  case  a  month 
in  a  force  of  639  men. 

The  physicians  who  were  interviewed  maintained  that  this  great 
improvement  was  to  be  attributed  to  the  institution  of  medical  and 
sanitary  care,  not  to  the  change  in  the  paint,  while  the  foremen  were 
inclined  to  give  the  credit  to  the  pamt.  The  truth  is  that  both  were 
factors.  Without  the  sanitary  supervision,  some  men  would  prob- 
ably have  been  poisoned  even  with  the  sulphate  paint,  but  there  could 
never  have  been  so  great  and  so  sudden  a  falling  off  of  lead  poisonmg 
if  the  company  had  continued  to  use  the  carbonate  paint,  no  matter 
what  care  was  taken.  There  is  no  record  in  the  literature  of  such  a 
rapid  improvement  following  the  institution  of  sanitary  measures 
alone. 

However,  since  the  experience  of  this  company  could  not  be  taken 
as  absolutely  conclusive  because  both  changes  had  been  made  at  the 
same  time,  it  seemed  best  to  make  an  experimental  study  of  these  two 
kinds  of  paint,  and  determine  the  question  of  their  relative  poisonous- 
ness.  The  experiments  were  made  in  the  Hull  Physiological  Labora- 
tory of  Chicago  University  by  A.  J.  Carlson  and  A.  Woelfel.  They 
worked  with  the  sort  of  dust  which  painters  inhale  when  they  are  sand- 
papermg,  and  which  gets  on  their  hands  and  faces  and  hair  and  cloth- 
ing. The  specimens  of  dust  were  furnished  by  Mr.  A.  M.  Johnson, 
chief  chemist  of  the  Pullman  Co.  Mr.  Johnson  had  two  plates  of  steel 
each  2  feet  square  covered,  one  with  basic  carbonate  paint  and  one 
with  basic  sulphate  paint.  The  plates  were  allowed  to  dry  and  then 
the  paint  rubbed  off  with  sandpaper  and  the  resulting  dust  collected 
and  tested  with  human  gastric  juice  and  fed  to  animals.  This  is  Dr. 
Carlson's  report  of  his  findings  first  with  the  paint  dust,  afterwards 
with  basic  carbonate  and  sublimed  lead  in  the  dry  state. 

SOLUBILITY  OP  BASIC  LEAD  SULPHATE  AND  BASIC  LEAD  CARBONATE  IN  HUMAN 
GASTRIC  JUICE  AND  RELATIVE  TOXICITY  OP  THE  TWO  SALTS  AS  SHOWN  BY 
FEEDING  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  DOQS  AND  CATS. 

(By  A.  J.  Carlson  and  A.  Woelfel,  Hull  Physiological  Laboratory, 
University  of  Chicago.) 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  lead  salts  are  absorbed  from  the  di- 
gestive tract  or  act  locall}"^  on  the  mucosa,  except  when  in  solution. 
The  strongest  solvent  in  the  digestive  tract  for  lead  salts  is  the  liydro- 
diloric  acid  of  the  gastric  juice,  and  of  less  importance  the  lactic  acid, 
and  other  organic  acids  produced  in  the  course  of  hydrolysis  of  pro- 
teins  and  of  fats  and  of   bacterial   activity.     When  one  considers 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS'   TRADE.  23 

the  humane  and  economic  importance  of  lead  poisoning  in  the  in- 
dustries, the  literature  on  the  action  of  the  gastric  juice  on  the  different 
lead  salts  appears  fragmentary.  It  was  even  assumed  until  less  than 
10  years  ago  that  lead  sulphate  was  practically  insoluble  in  the 
stomach  and  intestines.-  This  view  led  to  the  practice,  still  followed 
by  some  doctors,  of  giving  sulphuric  acid  lemonade  to  lead  workers  as  a 
prophylactic  measure.  Blum^,  Goadby^  SchicksaP,  and  Beck*  have 
studied  the  solubility  of  various  lead  salts  in  dilute  hydrochloric 
acid,  in  various  artificial  gastric  digest  mixtures,  and  in  gastric  juice. 
All  agree  that  the  lead  sulphate  is  soluble  in  these  media.  One 
of  Goadby's  two  experiments  with  human  gastric  juice  (10  c.  c. 
gastric  juice  +  0.1  g.  of  the  lead  salts,  at  37°  C.  (98.6°  F.)  for  one 
hour)  appears  to  show  that  the  lead  sulphate  is  even  more  soluble 
than  is  lead  carbonate  (white  lead)  or  lead  oxide  (litharge).  The 
second  experiment  showed  practically  the  same  solubility  for  the 
three  salts.  The  work  of  Blum  and  Schicksal  indicates  that  the  pres- 
ence of  peptone  in  gastric  digest  mixture  increases  slightly  the  solu- 
bility of  the  lead  salts. 

RELATIVE    SOLUBILITY    OF    LEAD    CARBONATE    AND   LEAD    SULPHATE    IN 
HUMAN    GASTRIC    JUICE. 

Samples  of  paint  dust  of  ''basic  lead  carbonate"  and  ''basic  lead 
sulphate"  respectively,  were  sent  us  by  Mr.  A.  M.  Johnson,  chief 
chemist  of  the  Pullman  Co.  Mr.  Johnson  stated  that  the  samples 
submitted  were  typical  of  the  paint  dust  produced  in  the  Pullman 
shops  by  sandpapering  painted  metal.  The  dust  samples  contained, 
per  gram,  lead  corresponding  to  the  following  quantities  of  lead 
(determined  as  sulphate) : 

Grams  of  lead  per  gram  of  dust. 

n.04| 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust ■!  1. 04  ^average,  1.05  g. 

[i.oej 


111 


Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust j   .87  [average,  .85  g. 

i  .82] 

Samples  of  sublimed  white  lead  (basic  lead  sulphate)  and  of  lead 
carbonate  ("Old  Dutch  Process")  not  mixed  with  oU  were  then 
tested.  On  analysis  they  were  found  to  yield  the  following  quantities 
of  lead  (determined  as  sulphate) : 

Grams  of  lead  per  gram  of  sample. 

fl   I'^l 
Lead  carbonate j   '    "[average,  1.12  g. 

Basic  lead  sulphate j  '      [average,  .97  g. 

1  Blum,  Wiener  medizinische  Wochensehrift,  1904,  Bd.  54,  p.  53S;  Deutsche  medizinische  Wochenschrift, 
1912,  Bd.  38,  p.  64.5. 

2  Goadby,  Journal  of  Hygiene,  Cambridge,  Eng.,  University  Press,  1909,  IX,  p.  122. 
8  Leymann,  Die  Bekampfung  der  Bleigefahr  in  der  Industrie,  Jena,  1908. 

*  Beck,  Arbeiten  aus  dem  Kais.  Gesundheits  Am.t.  Berlin,  1910.    Bd.  34,  p.  446. 


24 


BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUKEAU    OF    LABOR    STATISTICS. 


Xormal  human  gastric  juice  was  obtained  from  a  man  27  years  old, 
with  complete  constriction  of  the  oesophagus  and  a  gastric  fistula  of 
16  years'  standing.^ 

The  juice  was  secreted  while  the  man  was  chewing  palatable  food 
when  hungry.  Hence  it  was  normal  ''appetite"  or  ''psycliic"  juice, 
not  mixed  with  saliva.  The  total  acidity  varied  from  0.40  per  cent 
to  0.52  per  cent. 

The  results  are  given  in  Tables  I  and  II.  The  lead  carbonate 
proved  in  every  case  to  be  much  more  soluble  than  the  lead  sulphate 
and  the  lead  carbonate  paint  dust  is  nearly  as  soluble  as  the  pure 
white  lead,  while  the  lead  sulphate  paint  dust  is  less  soluble  than  the 
pure  basic  lead  sulphate.  We  are  at  loss  to  account  for  Goadby's 
results  showmg  greater  solubility  of  the  lead  sulphate  m  gastric 
juice,  except  on  the  ground  of  faulty  methods.  A  greater  solubility 
of  lead  sulphate  than  of  lead  carbonate  in  gastric  juice  seems  a 
chemical  impossibility.  We  note  that  Goadby  records  only  two 
tests  and  the  lead  was  determined  after  centrifugmg  the  digestive 
mixture  instead  of  in  clear  filtrate.  It  seems  probable  that  var^ong 
quantities  of  the  lead  salts  were  present  in  suspension  in  addition  to 
that  in  actual  solution. 

Peptone  in  concentration  of  0.2  per  cent  and  1  per  cent  does  not 
have  a  marked  influence  on  the  solubility  of  the  lead  salts,  but  so  far 
as  the  influence  of  the  peptone  is  in  evidence  it  may  be  explained 
as  follows :  The  formation  of  lead  peptone  compounds  might  lead  to 
the  setting  free  of  the  chlorine  ions  in  the  lead  chloride,  and  thus  to 
the  formation  of  more  lead  chloride  from  the  carbonate  and  the 
sulphate.  Our  figures  show  that  this  is  not  an  important  factor  in 
lead  poisoning  from  the  digestive  tract.     (See  Summary,  p.  31.) 

The  solubility  of  the  lead  salts  in  pure  gastric  juice  is  practically 
the  same  as  that  in  similar  quantities  of  0.5  per  cent  hydrochloric 
acid.  It  is  therefore  clear  that  the  hydrocliloric  acid  of  the  gastric 
juice  is  the  all-important  solvent.  Pepsin,  rennin,  and  other  organic 
constituents  may  combine  with  the  lead  salts  when  in  solution,  but 
if  this  is  the  case  the  reaction  does  not  appreciably  affect  the  quan- 
tity of  lead  salts  held  in  solution. 

Table  I.-RELATIVE  SOLUBILITY  OF  BASIC  LEAD  SULPHATE  PAINT  DUST  AND  BASIC 
LEAD  CARBONATE  PAINT  DUST  IN  HUMAN  GASTRIC  JUICE. 


2.5  c.  c.  gastric  juice+25  c.  c.  watcr+0.5  g.  basic  lead 
sulphate  paint  dast,  at  38°  C.  (100.4"  F.)  for  10 
hours. 

25  c.  c.  gastric  juice+25  c.  c.  water+0.5  p.  basic  lead 
carbonate  paint  dust,  at  38'  C.  (100.4°  F.)  lor  10 
hours. 

Experiment  number. 

Lead  disijolved. 

Experiment  number. 

Lead  dissolved. 

1 

Orams. 
1(a)  0.0396 
\(6)    .0276 
/(a)    .0582 
t(6)    .0680 
Ha)    .0436 
\(6)    .0400 
Ha)    .0420 
\(6)    .0594 

1 

Orams. 
Ha)  0. 1964 
V6)    .2584 
Ha)    .2.364 
\(6)    .2284 
Ha)    .2264 
1(6)     .2262 

2 

2 

3  

3 

4 

Average 

Average 

.0473-9.5  per  cent. 

.2304=46.1  percent. 

>  A.  J.  Carlson,  American  Journal  of  Physiology,  Boston,  1912.    XXXI,  p.  151. 


HYGIENE    OP    THE    PAINTERS      TEADE. 


25 


Table  II.— RELATIVE  SOLUBILITY  OF  LEAD  CARBONATE  (OLD  DUTCH  PROCESS)  AND 
BASIC  LEAD  SULPHATE  (SUBLIMED  WHITE  LEAD)  IN  HUMAN  GASTRIC  JUICE. 


Lead  sulphate. 

Lead  carbonate. 

Experi- 
ment 
number. 

Digestive  mixture. 

Lead 
dissolved. 

Experi- 
ment 
number. 

Digestive  mixture. 

Lead 
dissolved. 

1 

2 

3 

25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25  c.  c. 
water;  0.5  a.,  lead  sulphate, 
at  38'  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 
hours. 

25  c.  0.  gastric  juice;  25  c.  c. 
water;  0.5  g.  lead  sulphate; 
0.1  g.  peptone  (a"i,0.5  g.  pep- 
tone (b),  at  .38°  C.  (100.4° 
F.)  for  10  hours. 

50  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  0.  5  g. 
lead  sulphate,  at  38°  C. 
(100.4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 

Grams. 

1(a)  0. 1260 
[(6)    .  1210 

[(a)     .1376 
f(6)     .  1284 

.  1500 

1 

2 

3 

f25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25  c.  c. 

water;  0.5  g.  lead  carbon- 
1    ate,  at38°C.  (100.4°  F.)  for 
[    10  hours. 
f25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25  c.  c. 

water;  0.5  g.  lead  carbon- 
\    ate;  0.1    g.    peptone    (a), 

0.5  g.  peptone  (b),  at  38°  C. 
{    (100-4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 
50  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  0.5  g. 
\    lead  carbonate,  at  38°  C. 
{    (100.4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 

Grams. 

(a)    0.2940 
\b)      .3044 

(a)      .3302 
(6)      .3100 

.3896 

Per 

Grams.      cent. 

((11  0.1235  =  24.7 

Average <(2)    .1330=  26.6 

1(3)    .1500  =  30.0 

Per 

Grams.      cent. 
f(l)  0.2992  =  59.8 

Average -^(2)    .3201  =  64.0 

1(3)     .3896  =  77.9 

It  can  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  lead  carbonate  is  a  little  more 
than  twice  as  soluble  as  the  sulphate. 

RELATIVE  TOXICITY  OF  LEAD  SULPHATE  AND  LEAD  CARBONATE  WHEN 
FED  TO  DOGS  AND  CATS. 

Since  it  is  not  possible  in  experiments  in  vitro,  even  when  normal 
gastric  juice  is  available,  to  reproduce  some  of  the  essential  condi- 
tions of  gastric  digestion,  the  final  solution  of  the  question  of  the 
relative  toxicity  of  the  different  lead  salts  must  be  sought  by  feeding 
experiments.  Goadby  fed  various  lead  salts  to  cats.  Five  cats 
received  from  0.5  to  0.8  grams  dry  white  lead  (lead  carbonate)  per 
day  for  periods  varying  from  1  to  18  months.  Accordmg  to  Goadby, 
this  quantity  of  lead  carbonate  per  day  produced  practically  no 
symptoms  unless  alcohol  was  given  at  the  same  time.  One  must 
infer  from  Goadby's  work  that  cats  are  unusually  resistant  to  lead 
salts  given  by  mouth.  In  an  earlier  work  Lehmann  ^  showed,  how- 
ever, that  even  the  slightly  soluble  lead  sulphate  produces  toxic 
symptoms  in  eight  or  nine  days  when  fed  to  cats  m  quantities  of  0.2 
gram  per  day.  Blum  ^  concludes  that  the  sulphate  is  less  toxic  than 
the  other  lead  salts  employed  in  the  industries. 

Feeding  Experiments — Series  I. — Dogs  of  nearly  the  same  size 
and  age  were  selected,  and  4  grams  of  the  lead  sulphate  and  the  lead 
carbonate  paint  dust  respectively  were  fed  to  the  dogs  in  ground 
meat,  either  in  one  feeding  or  in  two  feedings,  eight  hours  apart. 
The  results  are  summarized  in  Table  III. 

'  Lehmann,  Archiv  fiir  Hygiene,  Miinchen  und  Leipzig,  1892,  Bd.  16,  p.  316. 

»  Blum,  Deutsche  medizinische  Wochenschrift,  Leipzig  und  Berlin,  1912,  Bd.  38,  p.  6-15. 


26 


BULLETIN   OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOB   STATISTICS. 


The  feces  of  dogs  A  and  B  (Table  III)  weie  collected  for  six  days 
after  giving  the  lead  paint  dust  per  mouth,  and  the  quantity  of  lead 
determined  with  the  following  result : 

Dog  B,  fed  4  grams  basic  lead  carbonate,  containing  4.16  grams 
lead  determined  as  sulphate.  Lead  recovered  m  the  feces  2.61 
grams,  or  63  per  cent. 

Dog  A,  fed  4  grams  basic  lead  sulphate,  containing  3.28  grams  lead 
determined  as  sulphate.  Lead  recovered  in  feces,  3.10  grams,  or  95 
per  cent. 

The  lead  in  the  feces  of  dogs  C  and  D  was  not  determined. 

Table  in.— EFFECTS  OF  4  GRAMS  OF  LEAD  SULPHATE  AND  OF  LEAD  CARBONATE 
PAINT  DUSTS  WHEN  FED  TO  DOGS  IN  ONE  AND  TWO  FEEDINGS. 


Day. 

Dog  A:  Weight,  10  K.  (22  lbs.)- 

Dog  B:  Weight,  11  K.  (24.3  lbs.). 

First 

2.0  g.  basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust  in  meat 

at  8  a.  m.  and  4  p.  m. 
Dog  normal 

2.0  g.  basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust  in  meat 

at  8  a.  m.  and  4  p.  m. 
Vomiting;  great  thirst;  polyuria;  depression; 

Third 

Dog  normal 

.some  tremors;  no  appetite. 
Condition  same  as  on  second  day. 

Fourth  . 

Dog  normal .        

Eats  a  little;  drinks  and  vomits  frequently. 
Condition  about  same  as  on  fourth  day. 

Fifth..  . 

Dog  normal 

Sixth 

Dog  normal 

Considerablj'^     improved;     eats;    does     not 

vomit;  but  seems  depressed. 
Dog  seems  fairly  normal. 

Dog  C:  Weight,  7  K.  (15.4  lbs.). 

Dog  D:  Weight,  6.5  K.  (14.3  lbs.). 

4.0  g.  basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust  in  meat 
at  one  feeding.    Dog  developed  some  con- 
stipation, but  no  other  symptoms  of  lead 
poisoning. 

4.0  g.  basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust  in  meat 
at  one  feeding.    Dog  ran  practically  the 
same  course  of  acute  lead  poisoning  as  dog 
B,  with  final  complete  recovery. 

Feeding  Experiments — Series  II. — Eight  hearty  dogs  were 
selected  for  this  test,  and  grouped  in  pairs  of  approximately  the  same 
body  weight.  One  of  the  dogs  of  each  pair  was  fed  the  sulphate 
paint  dust  in  meat,  the  other  one  given  the  carbonate  paint  dust  in 
meat.  The  quantity  of  the  lead  paint  dusts  given  each  dog  was 
fixed  to  equal  0.1  gram  lead  sulphate  per  kilo  (2.2046  pounds)  body 
weight.  The  dogs  fed  the  sulphate  paint  dust  thus  received  a  greater 
quantity  of  the  du.st,  as  this  dust  contained  a  lower  percentage  of  lead 
than  the  carbonate  paint  dust. 

The  results  are  summarized  in  Table  IV.  The  table  shows  that  the 
dogs  receiving  the  lead  carbonate  paint  dust  developed  severe  symp- 
toms of  acute  lead  poisoning  within  24  to  48  hours  after  the  first 
feeding,  while  the  dogs  fed  the  sulphate  paint  dust  showed  very  mild 
symptoms  of  lead  intoxication  only  after  three  or  four  feedings — that 
is,  after  72  to  96  hours.  Feeding  experiments  as  tests  of  relative 
toxicity  break  down,  of  course,  as  soon  as  vomiting  or  lack  of  appetite 
appears,  as  one  can  not  control  the  quantity  of  lead  salts  eaten  or 
retained.  For  that  reason  the  experiment  was  discontinued  as  soon 
as  there  apj)eared  symj)toras  of  into.xication  in  the  dogs  receiving  the 
least  toxic  lead  salt — that  is,  the  sulphate. 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS     TJEIADE. 


27 


Table  IV.-  EFFECTS  OF  DAILY  FEEDINGS  OF  LEAD  SULPHATE  AND  LEAD  CARBO- 
NATE PAINT  DUSTS  TO  DOGS  IN  QUANTITIES  OF  0.1  GRAM  PER  KILO  r2.2046 
POUNDS)  BODY  WEIGHT. 


Bas 

ic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust. 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust. 

Day. 

Dog  A: 

Dog  C: 

DogE: 

Dog  G: 

DogB: 

DogD: 

DogF: 

Dog  H: 

Weight, 

Weight, 

Weight, 

Weight, 

Weight, 

Weight, 

Weight, 

Weight, 

6.8  K. 

12.5  K. 

10.2  K. 

12.3  K. 

7.0  K. 

13.4  K. 

10. .3  K. 

14.2  K. 

(15  lbs.). 

(27.0  lbs.). 

(22.5  lbs.). 

(27.1  lbs.). 

(15.4  lbs.). 

(29.5  lbs.). 

(22.7  lbs.). 

(31.3  lbs.). 

First. . . 

Normal... 

Normal . . . 

Normal... 

Normal . . . 

Normal . . . 

Normal . . . 

Normal . . . 

Normal. 

Second. 

Normal... 

Normal... 

Normal... 

Normal . . . 

Severe  di- 
arrhea; 
vomit- 
ing; eats 
a  little. 

Diarrhea; 
feces 
bloody; 
great 
thirst; 
vomits; 
eats   a 
little. 

Slight  di- 
arrhea; 
other- 
wise  nor- 
mal; eats 
well. 

Seems 
normal. 

Third. - 

Normal... 

Normal.. . 

Seems  nor- 

Normal. . . 

Diarrhea ; 

Diarrhea ; 

Diarrhea ; 

Depres- 

mal,  but 

d  e  pres- 

vomit- 

vo mit- 

s  i  0  n; 

does  not 

s  i  0  n  ; 

ing;  does 

ing;eats 

some 

eat    as 

vomit- 

not eat. 

a  little. 

tremors; 

much  as 

ing;  eats 

vomit- 

usual. 

a  little. 

i  n  g  ; 
eats    a 
little. 

Fouith 

Some   de- 

Normal. . . 

Some  de- 

Had vom- 

Diarrhea; 

Condition 

Diarrhea ; 

D  i  ar- 

pression; 

pression; 

ited  dur- 

does not 

fair;  does 

vomit- 

rhea; 

eats  less 

eats  less 

ing  night; 

eat;  great 

not  eat. 

ing;  eats 

vomit- 

than  nor- 

than nor- 

eats 

thirst. 

a  little. 

i  n  g  ; 

mally. 

mally. 

eagerly. 

does 
not  eat. 

Fifth... 

R  e  f  u  s  es 

Slight  de- 

Slight de- 

Slight de- 

Condition 

Condition 

Diarrhea ; 

Diar- 

food; 

pression; 

pression; 

pression; 

fair;  eats 

fair;  eats 

vo  mit- 

rhea; 

other- 

V  0  m  it- 

weigh  t , 

eats  less 

a  little; 

a  little; 

ing;  does 

depres- 

wise in 

i  n  g  ; 

9.8     K. 

thannor- 

weight. 

w  eight, 

not  eat; 

sion  ; 

good 

weight , 

(21.6  lbs.). 

mally; 

6.6     K. 

12.8    K. 

weight. 

eats    a 

condition; 

11.9    K. 

weigh  t , 

(14.61bs.). 

(28.2  lbs.). 

9.9     K. 

1  i  t  tie; 

w  eight, 

(26.2  lbs.). 

12.4    K. 

(21.8  lbs.). 

weight, 

6.9      K. 

(27.3  lbs.). 

13.1  K. 

(15.2  lbs.). 

(28.9  lbs.) 

Feeding  Experiment — Series  III. — The  results  of  the  feedmg 
tests  with  the  sulphate  and  the  carbonate  of  lead  to  dogs  do  not 
agree  with  those  of  Goadby  on  cats.  It  does  not  seem  likely  that 
cats  have  so  much  greater  tolerance  than  dogs  to  lead  salts  per  os. 
Legge  and  Goadby  claim,  indeed,  that  cats  are  especially  susceptible 
to  lead  poisoning.  Moreover,  Leymann  obtained  symptoms  in  cats 
from  feeding  0.2  gram  lead  sulphate  per  day  for  8  to  9  days.  How- 
are  Leymann's  results  on  cats  and  our  result  on  dogs  to  be  reconciled 
with  Goadby  failing  to  produce  lead  poisoning  in  cats  on  feeding 
the  more  toxic  lead  carbonate  in  daily  doses  up  to  0.8  gram  for  2  to 
18  months  ?  It  is  difficult  to  understand  where  any  material  source 
of  error  might  be  concealed  in  the  relatively  simple  process  of  mixing 
lead  salts  with  the  food,  and  observing  the  animals. 

Our  own  test  series  consisted  of  four  healthy  cats,  which  we  may 
designate  as  A,  B,  C,  and  D.  The  quantity  of  the  lead  salts  mixed 
with  the  food  each  day  was  fixed  to  equal  0.1  gram  lead  sulphate 
per  kilo  (2.2046  pounds)  body  weight  of  cat.  The  amount  of  ground 
meat,  fish,  or  milk  and  bread  with  which  the  lead  salts  were  mixed 
Was  less  than  each  cat  would  ordinarily  eat  per  day,  so  as  to  insure 
all  of  the  lead  salts  reaching  the  stomach. 


28  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR    STATISTICS. 

Cat  a. — Fed  0.3  gram  lead  carbonate  per  day.  The  first  three 
days  the  cat  did  not  touch  the  food,  although  a  new  lot  was  prepared 
each  morning.  On  the  fourth  day  the  cat  ate  about  four-fifths  of 
the  food.  No  symptoms  were  observed,  but  the  cat  did  not  touch 
the  food  for  two  days  following.  On  the  seventh  to  the  eleventh 
day  the  cat  ate  about  one-fourth  of  the  food  each  day.  No  obvious 
symptoms  of  lead  poisoning. 

Cat  B. — Fed  0.37  gram  lead  sulphate  per  day.  Cat  refused  the 
food-lead  mixture  the  first  three  days.  The  fourth  day  the  cat  ate 
all  the  food,  on  the  sixth  to  the  eighth  day  about  one-third  of  the 
food.  On  the  ninth  day  all  the  food  was  consumed,  but  on  the  two 
following  days  less  than  half  of  it  was  taken.  No  lead  intoxication 
in  evidence. 

Cat  C. — Fed  0.31  gram  basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust  per  day. 
First  day  cat  ate  about  three-fourths  of  the  food-lead  mixture;  sec- 
ond day  cat  ate  about  one-half  the  mixture.  On  the  morning  of  the 
third  day  the  cat  had  vomited  a  considerable  mass  of  partly  digested 
meat.  The  cat  seemed  depressed  during  the  third  to  the  eighth  days 
and  refused  all  food.  During  the  ninth  to  the  eleventh  days  the  cat 
ate  about  one-fourth  of  the  food  each  day.  There  were  no  further 
symptoms. 

Cat  D. — Fed  0.3  gram  basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust  per  day. 
The  cat  did  not  touch  the  food-lead  mixture  durmg  the  first  tliree  days. 
On  the  remaining  8  days  of  the  feeding  period  the  cat  ate  all  the 
food  on  4  days,  and  on  the  other  days  about  one-third  of  the  food. 
No  symptoms  of  lead  poisoning  appeared  at  any  time. 

This  11-day  feeding  period  convinced  us  of  one  thing  only,  that 
mixing  the  lead  salts  with  the  food  is  not  a  feasible  method  in  the 
case  of  cats.  The  addition  of  small  quantities  of  lead  salts  to  the 
ground  meat,  fish,  or  milk  and  bread  renders  the  food  mass  so  unpal- 
atable through  taste  or  odor  that  the  cats  will  starve  for  days  rather 
than  eat,  and  one  can  not  be  certain  of  the  cat  eating  even  a  small 
portion  of  the  food  on  any  day.  In  tlie  test  of  the  relative  toxicity 
of  the  two  salts  it  is,  of  course,  essential  that  all  of  the  salts  given  shall 
reach  the  stomach  each  day.  The  method  of  mixing  the  lead  salts 
with  the  food  was  tliercforc  abandoned.  A  second  series  of  four  cats 
was  selected  and  0.1  gram  of  the  lead  salts  per  kilo  (2.204G  pounds) 
body  weight  administered  in  gelatin  capsules  each  morning  before 
giving  the  customary  food.     The  results  are  given  in  Table  V. 

The  cats  varied  in  weight  from  2.5  to  3.5  kilos  (5.5  to  7.7  pounds). 
Hence  0.25  gram  constituted  the  smallest  and  0.35  gram  the  largest 
dose  of  lead  salto  given  per  day.  Toxic  symptoms  were  produced  by 
all  the  salts,  but  tlie  lead  carbonate  and  the  lead  carbonate  paint 
dust  were  distinctly  more  toxic  than  the  basic  lead  sulphate  and  the 


HYGIENE    OF   THE   PAINTEES'    TEADE. 


29 


lead  sulphate  paint  dust.  The  toxic  symptoms  noted  were  vomit- 
ing, loss  of  appetite,  constipation,  and  depression.  The  feeding 
period  was  too  short  for  the  development  of  the  chronic  nervous 
symptoms. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  cats  and  dogs  show  about  the  same  sus- 
ceptibility to  the  lead  intoxication  per  os.  Lead  carbonate  and  lead 
sulphate  when  given  daily  in  quantities  up  to  0.1  gram  per  kilo 
(2.2046  pounds)  body  weight  produce  toxic  symptoms  within  2  to  8 
days. 

Table  V.— EFFECTS  OF  FEEDING  TO  CATS  0.1  GRAM  OF  THE  RESPECTIVE  LEAD  SALTS 
PER  KILO  (2.2046  POUNDS)  BODY  WEIGHT  EVERY  MORNING  BEFORE  BEING  GIVEN 
THEIR  USUAL  FOOD. 


Feeding  day. 


Cat    I:  Fed    lead 
carbonate. 


Cat  II:  Fed  lead 
sulphate. 


Cat  III:  Fed  lead 
carbonate  paint 
dust. 


Cat  IV:  Fed  lead 
sulphate  paint 
dust. 


First... 
Second. 
Third.. 
Fourth. 
Fifth... 


SLxth. 


Seventh. 
Eighth. . 
Ninth... 
Tenth... 


Normal 

Vomited 

Did  not  eat 

Did  not  eat 

Eats  a  little;  de- 
pressed. 

Eats  a  little;  de- 
pressed. 

Vomited 

Did  not  eat 

Did  not  eat 

Did  not  eat;  great- 
ly depressed.' 


Normal 

Normal 

Normal 

Vomited 

Seems  normal. 

Seems  normal. 


Normal. . 
Normal . . 
Vomited . 
Normal.. 
Vomited . 


Did  not  eat. 


Seems  normal 

Seems  normal  . . . 

Vomited 

Eats  a  little;  de- 
pressed. 


Did  not  eat 

Eats  a  little 

Eats  a  little 

Eats  a  little; 
greatly  de- 
pressed. 


Normal. 
Normal. 
Normal. 
Normal. 
Normal. 

Normal. 

Normal. 
Eats  a  little. 
Did  not  eat. 
Eats  a  little. 


This  cat  developed  ataxia,  paralysis,  and  opisthotonos  on  the  twelfth  day. 


RETARDING     EFFECT    OF    MILK     ON    THE     SOLUBILITY  OF     LEAD     SALTS 
IN    HUMAN    GASTRIC    JUICE. 

We  were  especially  interested  in  the  action  of  milk  on  the  solu- 
bility of  the  lead  salts  in  human  gastric  juice  and  weak  solutions 
of  hydrochloric  acid  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in  some  places  lead 
workers  are  required  to  drink  milk  before  starting  to  work.  And 
practical  experience  seems  to  show  that  milk  or  other  food  in  the 
stomach  minimizes  the  danger  of  lead  poisoning  from  the  digestive 
tract.  When  milk  and  gastric  juice  are  mixed  in  the  proportion  of 
1  to  1,  lead  salts  added,  and  the  mixture  incubated  at  body  tem- 
perature for  10  hours,  not  enough  lead  goes  into  solution  even  to 
get  a  qualitative  lead  test.  Only  when  the  lead  carbonate  paint 
dust  was  used,  in  two  cases  a  positive  qualitative  test  was  obtained. 
The  same  results  are  obtained  in  mixtures  of  milk  and  0.05  per  cent 
hydrochloric  acid.  But  when  the  ratio  of  the  gastric  juice  or  the 
hydrocliloric  acid  to  the  milk  is  increased,  the  lead  salts  are  dis- 
solved in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  the  quantity  of  the  gastric 
juice  or  hydrochloric  acid. 


30 


BULLETIN   OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 


Table  VI. 


-INFLUENCE  OF  MILK  ON  THE    SOLUBILITY  OF  LEAD  SALTS  IN  HUMAN 
GASTRIC  JUICE  AND  IN  0.5  PER  CENT  HYDROCHLORIC  ACID. 


Lead  sulphate. 


Lead  carbonate. 


Experi- 
ment 
number. 


Digestive  mixture. 


[25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 
c.  0.  milk;  0.5  e.  lead 
sulphate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

[    hours. 

25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 
c.  c.  milk;  0.5  e.  lead 
sulphate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

I    hours. 

[25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 
c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
sulphate  paint  dust  at 
;W°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

[    hours. 

25  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 

I  0.5  g.  lead  sulphate 
paint   dust   at   38°    C. 

[    (100.4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 

25  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 
25  c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
sulphate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

,    hours. 

50  e.  e.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 
25  c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
sulphate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

.    hours. 

100  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 
25  c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
sulphate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

.    hours. 

[100  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 

I    c.   c.  milk;   0.5   g.  lead 

I    sulphate     at     38°     C. 

1    (100.4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 


Lead  dis- 
solved. 


(a)  None. 
"(6)  None. 


,(o)  None. 
(6)  None. 


.(a)  None. 
(6)  None. 


(a)  0.0578  g. 

(b)  .0562  g. 


.(a)  None. 
(6)  None; 


[(a)  0.0126  g. 
(6)    .0132  g. 


^(a)  0.0590  g. 
(6)    .0580  g. 


.1740  g. 


Experi- 
ment 
number. 


Digestive  mixture. 


f25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 
c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
carbonate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

[    hours. 

[25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 
c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
carbonate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

[    hours. 

(■25  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 
c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 

.     carbonate  paint  dust  at 

I     38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

\    hours. 

25  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 
0.5  g.  lead  carbonate 
paint   dust   at   38°    C. 

^    (100.4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 

[25  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 

I    25  c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 

I  carbonate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

I    hours. 

50  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 

I  25  c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 
carbonate  paint  dust  at 
.38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

'■    hours. 

1 100  c.  c.  0.5  per  cent  HCI; 

I    25  c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 

I  carbonate  paint  dust  at 
38°  C.  (100.4°  F.)  for  10 

^    hours. 

[100  c.  c.  gastric  juice;  25 

I    c.  c.  milk;  0.5  g.  lead 

I     carbonate     at    38°     C. 

I    (100.4°  F.)  for  10  hours. 


Lead  dis- 
solved. 


a)  Trace. 

b)  Trace. 


a)  None. 
6)  None. 


o)  Trace. 
6)  Trace. 


a)  0.3284  g. 
6)    .3.344  g. 


a)  None. 
6)  None. 


a)  0.1320  g. 
6)    .1218  g. 


a)  0.4010  g. 

b)  .4340  g. 


4900  g. 


Tho  above  action  of  milk  is  probably  due  to  the  fixation  of  the 
hydrochloric  acid  by  the  milk  protein  and  the  neutralization  of  the 
hydrochlorio  acid  by  the  carbonate  of  milk.  Hence  when  an  excess 
of  milk  is  added  to  the  gastric  juice  there  will  be  no  hydrochlorio 
acid  to  effect  solution  of  the  lead  salts,  while  in  the  presence  of  an 
excess  of  gastric  juice  some  free  hydrochloric  acid  remains  to  act  on 
the  lead.  We  are  inclined  to  tho  view  that  the  formation  of  insoluble 
lead  albuminates  is  a  fat^tor  of  minor  importance  in  the  above  action 
of  milk. 

Those  experiments  in  vitro  do  not  reproduce  some  of  the  condi- 
tions that  obtain  in  normal  gastric  digestion.  The  fixation  of  the 
hydrochloric  acid  by  the  proteins  takes  place  in  the  stomach  as 
well  as  in  tho  test  tube,  so  that  the  presence  of  proteins  retards  the 
appc^araruui  of  free  liydrocliloric  acid  in  the  contents  of  the  stomach. 
But  the  work  of  Cannon  and  others  renders  it  highly  probable  that 
relaxation  of  the  pyloric  sphincter  and  entrance  of  the  gastric  con- 
tent into  the  duodenum  is  ordinarily  preceded  by  the  development 
of  some  free  hydrochloric  acid  in  the  pyloric  portion  of  the  stomach. 


HYGIENE    OP    THE   PAINTERS '    TRADE.  31 

This  hydrochloric  acid  will,  of  course,  tend  to  dissolve  any  lead 
salts  in  the  chyme  until  it  is  neutralized  in  the  duodenum.  Albu- 
minous foodstuffs  can  therefore  diminish  the  solution  of  lead  salts 
in  the  stomach  only  to  the  extent  that  they  fix  the  hydrochloric  acid 
in  the  gastric  juice. 

The  taking  of  milk  is  a  more  efficient  prophylatic  measure  than 
the  taking  of  an  equal  amount  of  other  forms  of  proteins,  because 
there  is  less  appetite  secretion  of  gastric  juice  with  milk,  and  the 
fat  in  the  milk  depresses  and  retards  the  action  of  the  gastric 
secretagogues. 

SUMMARY    OF     CONCLUSIONS     ON     SOLUBILITY     AND    FEEDING    EXPERI- 
MENTS. 

1.  Solubility  of  white  lead  in  human  gastric  juice. 

WHITE   LEAD   PAINT   DUST. 

Soluble  in  pure  gastric  juice  (25  c.  c.  gastric  juice,  0.5  g.  dust):  Per  cent. 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust 46. 1 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust 9.  5 

Soluble  in  gastric  juice  and  peptone  (25  c.  c.  gastric  juice,  0.1  g.  peptone,  0.5  g. 
dust) : 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust 46.  0 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust 7.  3 

Soluble  in  gastric  juice  and  milk  (gastric  juice  1,  milk  1): 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust None. 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust None. 

Soluble  in  0.5  per  cent  HCl  (25  c.  c.  HCl,  0.5  g.  dust): 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust 66.3 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust 11.  4 

Soluble  in  0.5  per  cent  HCl  and  milk  (HCl  1,  milk  1): 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust None. 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust None. 

Soluble  in  0.5  per  cent  HCl  and  milk  (HCl  2,  milk  1): 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust 25.4 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust 2.  6 

Soluble  in  0.5  per  cent  HCl  and  milk  (HCl  4,  milk  1): 

Basic  lead  carbonate  paint  dust 83.  5 

Basic  lead  sulphate  paint  dust 11.  7 

WHITE    LEAD. 

Soluble  in  pure  gastric  juice  (25  c.  c.  gastric  juice,  0.5  g.  lead): 

Lead  carbonate  (old  Dutch  process) .  59.  8 

Basic  lead  sulphate 24.  7 

Soluble  in  gastric  juice  and  peptone  (25  c.  c.  gastric  juice,  0.5  g.  lead): 

Lead  carbonate  (old  Dutch  process) 64.  0 

Basic  lead  sulphate 26.  6 

Soluble  in  pure  gastric  juice  (50  c.  c.  gastric  juice,  0.5  g.  lead): 

Lead  carbonate  (old  Dutch  process) 77.  9 

Basic  lead  sulphate 30.  0 

Soluble  in  gastric  juice  and  milk  (gastric  juice  4,  milk  1): 

Lead  carbonate 98,  0 

Lead  sulphate 34.  8 


32  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUEEAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

2.   Toxicity  of  lead  xvhen/ed  to  dogs  and  cats. 

The  lead  carbonate  is  much  more  toxic  than  the  lead  sulphate, 
but  both  salts  produce  acute  lead  poisoning  when  given  in  quantities 
of  0.1  g.  per  kilo  body  weight  per  day.  ij 

S.   T]ie  influence  of  milk. 

Wlien  milk  and  gastric  juice  are  mixed  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  1, 
the  hj'drochloric  acid  of  the  gastric  juice  is  so  completely  fixed  by 
the  milk  protems  or  neutralized  by  the  carbonates  in  the  milk  that 
the  mixture  has  virtually  no  solvent  action  on  the  lead  salts.  But 
when  the  gastric  juice  is  present  in  excess  of  the  milk,  the  lead  salts 
go  into  solution  in  proportion  to  the  excess  of  gastric  juice.  When 
milk  is  taken  mto  the  stomach  there  occurs,  of  course,  a  similar  fixa- 
tion of  the  hydrochloric  acid,  and  in  addition  the  total  quantity  of 
gastric  juice  is  diminished  owing  to  the  inhibitory  action  of  the  fat 
of  the  milk  on  the  processes  of  secretion. 

4.   Three  practical  suggestions. 

On  the  basis  of  our  work,  we  venture  to  offer  these  three  practical 
suggestions : 

(a)  The  lead  carbonate  is  so  much  more  toxic  than  the  lead  sul- 
phate that  lead  workers  as  well  as  the  State  should  aim  at  the  elimi- 
nation of  the  use  of  the  carbonate  in  all  industries  where  this  is 
possible, 

(&)  Basic  lead  sulphate,  or  sublimed  lead,  is  poisonous  and  none  of 
the  precautions  usually  advocated  for  the  protection  of  workers  in 
lead  should  be  neglected  by  those  handling  lead  sulphate. 

(c)  In  addition  to  taking  other  important  prophylactic  measures 
workers  in  lead  salts  should  drink  a  glass  of  milk  between  meals  (say 
at  10  a.  m.  and  at  4  p.  m.)  in  order  to  diminish  the  chances  that  the 
lead  th^y  have  swallowed  be  dissolved  by  the  free  hydrochloric  acid 
of  the  gastric  juice,  as  in  some  persons  there  is  considerable  secre- 
tion of  gastric  juice  in  the  empty  stomach. 

METHODS  OF  USING  AND  REMOVING  PAINT. 

The  dangers  involved  in  the  use  of  paint  depend  upon  the  constitu- 
ents of  the  paint  and  on  the  way  it  is  used.  No  paint  need  be  dan- 
gerous if  it  is  used  with  sufficient  caution.  If  the  thinner  contains 
harmful  volatile  substances,  these  can  be  got  rid  of  by  proper  ventila- 
tion of  the  room  in  which  the  work  is  being  done.  Men  suffer  from 
turpentine,  petroleum,  benzine,  wood  alcohol,  or  amyl  acetate  poison- 
ing because  they  are  required  to  use  these  fluids  in  closed  rooms. 
The  defenders  of  flat-finish  paints,  which  are  leadless  but  contain 
dangerous  volatile  suljstances,  insist  that  proper  ventilation  does 


HYGIE^STE    OF    THE   PAINTERS '    TEADE.  33 

away  with  all  possibility  of  injury  to  the  painter,  and  this  is  unde- 
niably true,  for  proper  ventilation  dilutes  the  poison  to  a  harm, 
less  point,  but  they  do  not  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the 
use  of  certain  varnishes  and  flat-finish  paints  precludes  ample  ven- 
tilation. Dr3^ing  must  take  place  in  a  closed  room  because  drafts 
of  air  would  stir  up  dust,  injure  the  surface,  or  make  the  coat  streaky. 
The  avoidance  of  danger  from  the  use  of  lead  paints  is  not  as 
simple  as  is  the  avoidance  of  danger  from  volatile  thinners,  yet 
here,  too,  the  method  of  use  is  of  great  importance.  The  dangers 
which  the  painter  who  uses  lead  paints  must  face  are  given  by  foreign 
authorities  as  follows: 

1.  Mixing  dr}^  lead  salts  with  oil  or  paint. 

2.  Sandpapering  lead-painted  surfaces. 

3.  Rubbing  or  chipping  off  old  paint. 

4.  Burning  off  old  paint. 

5.  Inlialing  dust  from  dirty  working  clothes  and  from  dirty  drop 
cloths. 

6.  Carrying  lead  paint  into  the  mouth  from  unwashed  hands 
while  eating  or  while  handling  tobacco. 

Now,  the  first  of  these  is  fairly  neghgible  as  a  source  of  lead  poison 
ing  in  this  country.  White  lead  is  almost  never  handled  dry  by 
the  painter  and  red  lead  rarely.  Out  of  100  lead-poisoned  painters 
whose  histories  were  obtained,  only-  2  mentioned  having  used  dry 
white  or  red  lead.  The  danger  is  one  to  which  paint  foremen  may 
be  exposed  and  to  a  certain  extent  painters  of  iron  and  steel  if  they 
use  red  lead,  but  the  number  is  relatively  very  small. 

DRY  SANDPAPERING  OF  LEAD=PAINTED  SURFACES. 

The  second  is  a  far  more  important  source  of  lead  poisoning. 
Sommerfeld  thinks  that  to  do  away  with  dry  sandpapering  would 
be  to  remove  the  worst  element  in  this  industry,  and  the  Austrian 
governmental  commission  came  to  the  same  conclusion.  Sand- 
papering is  used  to  smooth  away  the  roughness  of  one  coat  of  paint 
before  the  next  is  applied.  The  more  carelessly  the  first  is  apphed 
the  greater  necessity  for  sandpapering;  but  a  certain  amount  of  it 
is  necessary  in  ail  fine-grade  work,  especially  interior  work  in  sliip 
and  house  painting,  where  many  coats  must  be  applied.  A  well 
painted  interior  usually  has  from  two  to  four  coats  of  white-lead 
paint,  all  but  the  last  of  which  is  sandpapered.  Sometimes  tliis 
last  coat  is  a  leadless  enamel,  but  the  ground  coats  are  almost  always 
white  lead. 

In  working  on  carriage  wheels  or  bodies  or  on  the  interior  of  rail- 
way cars,  a  painter  may  spend  from  one-sixth  to  one-fourth  of  his 
working  time  sandpapering,  and  even  while  he  is  engaged  in  painting 
92589°— 13 3 


34  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUKEAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

be  may  have  to  breathe  the  dust  raised  by  his  fellow  workmen. 
His  face  is  close  to  his  work,  and  he  can  not  possibly  avoid  breathing 
in  the  diisi-  unless  he  wears  some  kind  of  a  respirator. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  DUST  AS  A  CAUSE  OF  LEAD  POISONING. 

It  is  very  important  to  know  how  lead  gains  entrance  to  the  human 
body,  because  obviously  it  is  not  possible  to  understand  the  dangers 
of  the  painter's  trade  nor  to  outline  measures  for  his  protection 
against  lead  poisoning  unless  we  know  whether  the  skin,  the  intes- 
tinal tract,  or  the  respiratory  tract  is  the  most  important  portal 
of  entry  for  this  poison.  Painters  themselves,  employers,  and 
phj^sicians  hold  varying  views  on  this  question.  Some  think  that 
the  skin  is  the  most  important  and  explain  painter's  palsy  (wrist 
drop)  on  the  ground  that  the  lead  in  the  paint  has  passed  directly 
through  the  skin  to  the  muscles  or  nerves  of  the  wrist.  There  are 
also  some  scientific  authorities  on  lead  poisoning  who  beheve  that 
lead  may  pass  through  the  skin  and  cause  poisoning,  especially  in 
hot  ■weather,  though  they  do  not  hold  this  to  be  the  most  important 
mode  of  poisoning.  On  the  other  hand,  the  majority  of  German 
authorities  regard  skin  absorption  as  of  little  practical  importance 
in  industrial  plumbism,  and  the  Enghsh  regulations  governing  the 
lead  trades  ignore  it  and  are  directed  entirely  to  measures  for  the 
prevention  of  lead  dust  in  the -air  and  the  prevention  of  poisoning 
through  the  mouth. 

As  for  the  relative  importance  of  these  last  two,  the  respiratory 
tract  and  the  digestive  tract,  there  is  some  difference  of  opinion. 
The  most  recent  British  work  *  on  the  subject  describes  expermients 
tending  to  show  that  lead  dust  enters  the  bronchial  tubes  and  lungs 
and  even  penetrates  the  capillaries  thus  reaching  the  blood  stream. 
Most  German  authorities,  however,  hold  that  if  any  lead  is  absorbed 
through  the  respiratory  tract  it  must  be  small  in  amount,  and  that 
while  it  is  true  that  the  breathing  of  lead  dust  causes  poisoning,  this 
is  not  because  the  load  reaches  the  bronchial  tubes,  but  because  it  is 
caught  in  the  mouth  and  throat,  mixed  with  the  saliva,  and  swallowed. 
K.  B.  Lehmann  ^  and  his  assistants  recently  traced  the  path  followed 
by  inhaled  dust  and  they  state  that  the  great  bulk  finds  its  way  into  the 
stomach,  not  into  the  lungs.  It  first  lodges  on  the  nasal  and  pharyn- 
geal mucous  membrane  and  the  dust-laden  secretions  are  then  swal- 
lowed. Less  than  one-quarter  at  the  most  reaches  the  lungs.  If 
the  dust  is  insoluble  the  stomach  may  be  a  good  place  for  elimina- 
tion, but  solu])lc  dusts  are  easily  absorbed.  Whichever  theory  is 
accepted  there  is  no  question  that  poisoning  takes  place  more  rapidly 

'  Logge,  Thomas  M.,  and  CJoadby,  Kenneth  W.,  Lead  Poisoning  and  Lead  Absorption.    I/ondon,  1912. 
*  Jyehmann,  Saito  A  Majima,  Archiv  fUr  Hygiene,  M(lnclie:i  imd  Leipzig,  1912.    Vol.  75,  p.  160. 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAIKTERS'   TRADE.  35 

the  dustier  the  occupation,  and  therefore  those  parts  of  the  painter's 
trade  that  are  accompanied  by  dust  production  are  the  most  dan- 
gerous. 

MOIST  RUBBING  OF  LEAD=PAINTED  SURFACES. 

Rubbing  with  pmnice  stone  and  water  instead  of  sandpapering  is 
used  much  more  in  European  countries  than  here.  It  is  more 
expensive  because  it  is  very  much  slower,  and  painters  in  this  country 
say  that  it  is  impracticable  for  the  first  coats  as  it  would  raise  the 
grain  of  the  wood  or,  in  metal  painting,  would  cause  rust.  These 
objections,  however,  would  not  apply  to  the  use  of  oil  instead  of 
water.  It  is  entirely  possible  to  do  away  with  the  dust  of  the  rub- 
bing process  by  keeping  the  sandpaper  moistened  with  one  of  the 
cheap  mineral  or  hydrocarbon  oils,  choosing  one,  of  course,  that 
has  a  low  flash  point  and  that  is  neither  too  slow  nor  too  rapid  a 
drier.  The  sandpaper  lasts  as  well  with  as  without  the  oil  and  the 
result  upon  the  paint  is  fully  as  good.  It  is  a  method  with  which 
many  German  painters  are  familiar  and  if  it  could  be  generally 
introduced  in  this  country  a  great  step  forward  would  have  been 
taken  in  improving  the  conditions  in  house  painting  and  carriage 
and  railway  coach  painting  and  ship  painting. 

REMOVING  OLD  PAINT. 

Old  paint  is  sometimes  prepared  for  repainting  by  sandpapering 
when  the  surface  is  wood,  and  when  the  repair  is  only  superficial. 
Pamted  metal  surfaces  are  generally  chipped  clean,  sometimes  by 
means  of  a  compressed  air  machine.  This  work  is  dangerous  in  the 
same  way  as  is  sandpapering  and  the  danger  varies  according  to  the 
thickness  of  the  paint  that  must  be  removed  and  the  smallness  of 
the  inclosure  in  which  the  work  is  done.  The  most  conspicuous 
example  of  dusty  pamt  removing  can  be  seen  m  shipyards,  when 
in  repairing  steel  ships  the  painters  may  have  to  enter  the  closed 
spaces  between  the  outer  shell  of  the  ship  and  the  inner  shell  and 
chip  off  old  red  lead  paint.  Even  when  artificial  ventilation  is 
used,  the  work  is  very  dangerous. 

Burning  off  old  paint  is  safer  than  chipping,  but  it  can  not  be 
used  on  thin  metal  surfaces  lest  they  warp.  English  and  German 
authorities  speak  sometimes  of  the  danger  of  poisonmg  from  the 
fumes  produced  by  burnmg  off  old  lead  paint,  and  include  this  process 
among  the  causes  of  lead  poisoning  in  the  painter's  trade,  but  it  seems 
improbable  that  lead  fumes  are  produced  in  burning  off  old  paint- 
The  painter  uses  a  small  gasolme  flame  which  is  hot  enough  to  make 
the  paint  shrivel  and  curl  up,  but  not  hot  enough  to  scorch  it.  The 
question  as  to  whether  this  degree  of  heat  would  be  sufficient  to 
volatilize  the  lead  was  submitted  to  Prof.  Julius  Stieglitz  of  the 


36  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR    STATISTICS. 

department  of  chemistry,  University  of  Chicago,   and  he   answers 
as  follows: 

If  the  painter  does  not  allow  a  flame  to  remain  more  than  a 
moment  in  contact  with  the  lead  paint,  I  should  consider  the  chance 
for  the  evaporation  of  lead  to  be  extremely  remote.  The  boiling 
point  of  lead  is  at  bright  red  heat,  and  of  lead  chloride,  w^hich  is 
its  most  volatile  common  salt,  it  is  near  that  temperature  (900°  C. 
[1652°  F.]).  I  believe,  therefore,  that  the  danger  is  minimal  under 
those  conditions.  If,  however,  he  allows  the  flame  to  play  long 
enough  on  the  surface  to  produce  a  decided  smoke,  the  smoke  could 
then  carry  mechanically  lead  particles  with  it. 

It  seems  more  probable  that  disagreeably  smelling  fumes  from 
the  heated  oil  cause  a  feeling  of  malaise  and  headache  in  the  painter 
and  that  the  chief  risk  of  lead  poisoning  comes  from  the  drying 
and  powdering  of  the  burned  ofl'  paint  after  it  has  fallen  to  the 
floor.  The  Austrian  regulations  require  that  all  such  scraps  be 
gathered  up  before  they  have  had  time  to  dry. 

DANGER  FROM  DUSTY  CLOTHING,  ETC. 

When  sandpapering  is  done  the  paint  dust  falls  on  the  floor,  or 
on  the  drop  cloth.  The  floor  of  a  factory  is  oily  and  the  dust  becomes 
incorporated  into  a  paste,  but  when  the  floor  is  covered  with  a 
drop  cloth,  as  m  house  painting,  there  is  risk  of  contammating  the 
air  with  minute  quantities  of  lead  dust  stirred  up  by  the  men  as  they 
pass  to  and  fro.  Especially  is  this  true  at  the  beginning  of  work 
when  a  dirty  drop  cloth  is  first  spread  out  on  the  floor  and  the  accu- 
mulation of  former  sandpapering  shaken  into  the  air.  Dusty  overalls 
are  objectionable  for  the  same  reason. 

DANGER  FROM  PAINT  ON  UNWASHED  HANDS  AND  FACE. 

Sandj)apermg  paint  and  burning  off  old  paint  are  not  dangers  to 
which  every  painter  is  exposed,  but  every  pamtcr  runs  the  risk  of  car- 
rying lead  into  his  mouth  if  he  handles  his  food  or  his  tobacco  with 
unwashed  hands.  The  risk  is  greatest  with  greasy  food,  such  as  but- 
tered bread  and  meat,  as  paint  comes  off  easily  on  an  oily  surface. 
This  is  a  danger  against  which  nobody  but  the  man  himself  can  wholly 
guard,  for  even  the  most  complete  equipment  of  wash  rooms,  towels, 
and  soap  are  useless  if  the  man  himself  is  careless.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  most  careful  man  may  find  it  hard  to  avoid  eating  with  paint- 
smeared  hands  when  employed  on  a  new  building,  where  there  may 
be  no  provision  at  all  for  washing.  The  water  is  usually  not  turned 
on  in  a  new  building  tiU  the  work  of  painting  is  completed,  and  there 
may  be  no  water  at  all  for  the  men  to  use  either  for  drinking  purposes 
or  to  wash  with  except  what  is  carried  up  in  buckets — emj)ty  i)aint 
buckets  often — from  a  hydrant  in  the  street.  Of  course  cold  water 
withoutsoap  is  j)ractically  useless  for  washing  paint  from  the  hands,  and 


HYGIENE    OP    THE    PAINTEES'    TEADE.  37 

few  of  the  men  carry  soap  and  towels  with  them.  Often  the  painter 
will  clean  his  hands  as  well  as  he  can  on  a  rag  or  a  piece  of  paper  and 
then  handle  his  food  gingerly,  trying  to  keep  some  paper  between  his 
fingers  and  his  sandwich,  though  he  may  quite  forget  the  lead  dust  on 
his  mustache.  Other  men  wash  off  the  paint  in  the  benzine  or  naph- 
tha that  is  provided  for  the  cleaning  of  paint  brushes,  but  many  paint- 
ers are  afraid  to  do  this  because  they  believe  that  benzine  drives  the 
lead  in  through  the  pores  of  the  skin.  If  the  painter  is  careless  enough 
to  hang  his  street  clothes  in  the  room  where  he  is  working,  he  will 
carry  the  lead  dust  home  with  him,  too. 

The  shortness  of  the  noon  hour  is  another  thing  that  prevents  the 
men  taking  proper  precautions.  Thirty  or  forty  minutes  is  not 
enough  to  permit  them  to  go  home  and,  without  a  wash  room  or  lunch 
room  within  easy  access,  they  can  not  get  rid  of  their  dirty  overalls 
and  eat  their  meal  with  clean  hands  in  a  clean  place.  The  only  warm 
and  clean  place  available  is  likely  to  be  the  nearest  saloon,  and  many 
painters  do  go  to  saloons  for  the  accommodations  which  they  can  not 
get  anywhere  else,  though  others  admit  frankly  that  they  go  for  drink 
and  sociability.  The  temptation  to  go  there  is  increased  by  lack  of 
drinking  water  in  the  place  where  they  are  working,  and  the  dryness 
of  the  throat  caused  by  turpentine  and  benzine  vapor. 

It  is  often  claimed  that  alcoholism  is  very  common  among  painters 
and  is  responsible  for  lowering  their  resistance  to  the  lead.  Painters 
themselves  say  that  as  a  class  they  are  rather  heavy  drinkers,  yet 
accordmg  to  the  vital  statistics  of  one  of  the  large  life-insurance  com- 
panies,^ which  makes  a  specialty  of  industrial  insurance,  painters  are  a 
little  below  the  average  in  deaths  from. alcoholism.  The  records  of 
2,783  deaths  among  painters  contain  only  1.4  per  cent  attributable 
to  alcoholism,  as  against  1.9  per  cent  for  plumbers  and  for  masons, 
and  1.0  per  cent,  the  average  for  103,434  occupied  males.  Oliver 
says  there  is  no  evidence  that  British  painters  are  more  intemperate 
as  a  class  than  other  workmen. 

If  a  house  pauiter  is  questioned  as  to  what  measures  would  best  pro- 
tect him  from  the  dangers  of  lead  poisoning,  he  usually  answers, 
among  other  things,  "hot  water  and  soap  and  time  enough  to  use 
them."  Yet  in  their  agreements  with  the  master  painters  and  con- 
tractors the  house  pamters  have  rarely  insisted  on  a  long  lunch  hour. 
It  would  be  easy  enough  for  them  to  add  on  a  hah  hour  at  the  end  of 
the  day  and  lengthen  the  noon  hour.  It  is  probably  true  that  in 
large  cities  house  painters  have  to  go  too  great  a  d-stance  from  home 
to  make  it  possible  for  them  to  get  there  and  back  again  in  the  middle 
of  the  day,  and  therefore  a  longer  lunch  period  would  not  help  much. 
In  factories  the  situation  is  much  simpler.     Here  it  would  be  easy  to 

1  Prudential  Insurance  Company  of  America.    Exhibit  for  International  Congress  on  Hygiene  and 
Demography.    Washington,  1912,  pp.  24  and  31. 


38  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF   LABOR   STATISTICS. 

insist  upon  clean  lunch  rooms  and  well-equipped  wash  rooms,  but  the 
union  does  not  hold  sway  in  factories.  As  it  is,  some  workshops  are 
very  well  equipped,  but  the  majority  that  have  been  visited  give  a  far 
from  sufficient  provision,  and  some,  especially  the  smaller  ones,  give 
none  at  all. 

On  the  whole  it  is  probably  fair  to  say  that  many  pamters  are  care- 
less as  to  personal  cleanliness  and  do  not  take  nearly  as  many  precau- 
tions as  they  should,  while  others  who  are  alive  to  the  dangers  have 
no  chance  to  take  precautions,  because  there  is  no  provision  for  clean- 
liness where  they  are  working. 

HOUSE  PAINTING. 

Outside  painting,  house  and  sign  paintmg,  does  not  involve  much 
risk  of  lead  poisonmg  from  dust,  only  from  contamination  of  food 
and  tobacco  through  pabit-covered  hands  and  mustache.  Sand- 
papering is  a  negligible  risk  in  outdoor  work.  The  essential  thmg  is 
to  have  some  provision  for  the  men  to  get  rid  of  the  paint  on  their 
hands  and  faces  before  they  eat  thoir  lunch. 

Interior  work  is  fraught  with  much  more  danger  of  plumbism 
than  outside  work  because  of  the  exposure  to  dust  from  sandpaper- 
ing. In  interviews  with  Scandinavian  and  German  painters,  of 
whom  there  are  many  working  in  this  country,  one  is  told  that  the 
methods  used  in  interior  work  in  European  countries  are  safer  than 
our  methods;  that  less  white  lead  is  used  on  this  class  of  work,  zinc 
oxide,  or  lithopone  taking  its  place.  Many  Scandinavian  painters 
said  they  never  had  used  white-lead  paint  for  inside  work  till  they 
came  to  this  country.  Zinc  oxide  has  not  the  covering  power  of 
white  lead,  requiring  as  it  does  so  much  more  linseed  oil,  and  there- 
fore four  coats  of  zinc  paint  are  needed  to  do  the  work  of  three  coats 
of  lead  paint.  As  labor  is  the  great  item  of  expense  in  house  paint- 
ing in  this  country,  that  extra  coat  makes  zinc  paint  less  desirable 
than  lead  paint  to  the  American  contractor.  Then,  too,  American 
painters  are  not  so  familiar  with  zinc  paint  as  with  lead  paint  and 
handle  it  with  less  skill.  Even  when  lead  paint  is  used,  these  men 
who  have  had  foreign  training  say  that  the  work  is  not  as  bad  in 
Europe  as  here  for  the  paint  is  put  on  more  slowly  and  carefully  and 
does  not  need  so  much  sandpapering.  Tliis  again  is  a  question  of 
saving  expense  by  saving  time. 

Another  thing  that  adds  to  the  unhealthfulness  of  interior  paint- 
ing is  the  dampness  and  cold  of  new  buildings  during  the  spring  and 
fall  months,  when  a  great  deal  of  the  work  on  new  construction  is 
done.  Rheumatic  pains  are  so  frequent  a  trouble  among  painters 
that  the  men  regard  them  as  a  matter  of  coui*se,  but  such  pains  are 
among  the  symptoms  of  lead  poisoning,  and  a  damp  and  cold  atmos- 
phere lowers  the  resistance  of  the  body  to  lead. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE   PAINTERS '    TRADE.  39 

SIGN  PAINTING. 

Sign  painters  are  closely  affiliated  with  house  painters  and  in  small 
places  thej  are  members  of  the  same  "mixed  locals"  with  house 
painters  and  carriage  painters.  There  is,  however,  a  separate  trade 
organization  in  larger  cities,  comprising  between  2,000  and  3,000 
members,  about  one-fourth  of  whom  hold  their  membership  in 
Chicago. 

Sign  painting  is  a  highly  skilled  branch  of  the  trade,  requiring  a 
four-year  apprenticeship,  which  is  sometimes  extended  to  five  years, 
while  the  apprentice  time  for  house  painters  is  only  three  years.  The 
organized  sign  painters  are  English-speaking  men,  chiefly  American 
born  or  from  northern  Europe,  though  Bohemians  and  various 
nationalities  of  Jews  are  beginning  to  enter  the  trade.  There  has 
been  a  gradual  change  in  the  industry  in  the  last  10  or  15  years, 
leading  to  the  substitution  of  shopwork  for  outside  work.  Not  only 
signs  for  business  houses  but  advertising  bulletin  boards,  what  we 
usually  call  ''sign  boards,"  are  now  prepared  in  the  shop.  The  sepa- 
rate boards,  which  are  made  of  galvanized  iron,  no  longer  of  wood, 
are  painted  inside  the  shop  and  then  fitted  together  outside.  Lead 
paint  is  chiefly  used,  but  sandpapering  is  a  very  insignificant  feature. 
Indeed,  sign  painters  do  not  think  of  mentioning  this  as  a  bad  part 
of  the  work  because  there  is  so  little  done.  There  is  also  much  less 
paint  used  by  sign  painters  than  by  house  painters,  for  so  much  of 
their  time  is  taken  up  in  painstaking  lettering  and  ornamentation. 
Practically  the  only  outside  work  among  sign  painters  now  is  the 
painting  of  advertisements  on  the  sides  and  roofs  of  buildings.  Here 
the  dark  background  is  generally  a  leadless  paint  and  only  the  light- 
colored  letters  and  designs  are  put  in  with  lead  paint. 

Volatile  substances  are  not  as  great  an  evil  in  sign  painting  as  in 
house  painting,  partly  because  there  is  not  nearly  so  much  paint  used 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  men  working,  partly  because  paints 
with  a  large  proportion  of  turpentine,  benzine,  or  naphtha  are  not 
adapted  to  this  work.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  gilding  with  gold  leaf 
and  a  smaller  amount  of  silvering  with  silver  and  aluminum  leaf,  but 
the  liquid  suspensions  are  not  used  and  there  is  very  little  bronzing- 

The  hours  are  the  same  as  those  for  house  painters  except  that  the 
sign  painters  belonging  to  the  Chicago  local  take  an  hour  at  noon. 
When  on  shopwork  the  men  usually  bring  their  lunches,  but  on  out- 
side work  they  depend  on  restaurants  or  saloons.  Sign  painters 
almost  always  wear  gloves  while  at  work.  There  is  no  piecework  in 
the  industry.  It  is  looked  upon  as  more  healthful  than  house  paint- 
ing, though  not  as  healthful  as  in  former  years,  when  it  was  almost 
entirely  an  outdoor  industry. 


40  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUKEAU   OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

SHIP  PAINTING. 

Ship  painting  is  fraught  with  more  dangers  to  the  health  of  the 
painter  than  any  other  branch  of  the  trade,  according  to  the  state- 
ments of  men  who  have  been  both  ship  painters  and  house  painters. 
This  is  partly  because  the  work  is  of  a  high  grade,  requiring  many 
coats  of  pure  lead  paint  and  turpentine,  with  the  usual  accompaniment 
of  dry  sandpapering.  Then,  too,  much  of  the  work  is  done  in  poorly 
ventilated  spaces,  down  in  the  hold,  for  instance,  or  inside  small 
cabins,  or,  even  worse,  in  the  so-called  water  bottoms,  the  spaces 
between  the  inner  and  outer  shells  of  the  ship.  Fumes  of  turpentine 
and  of  hot  coal  tar  and  dust  from  sandpapered  red  or  white  lead 
accumulate  in  these  airless  places  and  bring  about  a  condition  which 
could  hardly  be  paralleled  in  house  painting.^  A  description  of  one 
of  the  four  large  shipyards  on  the  Atlantic  coast  will  serve  to  show 
the  risks  attendant  on  this  work.  Conditions  are  fairly  similar  in 
all  four,  though  the  one  selected  is  considered  one  of  the  best. 

There  are  between  125  and  150  painters  employed  here,  about 
25  or  30  of  them  colored,  the  others  white.  Most  of  the  whites  are 
members  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Pamters  and  Decorators,  this  being  an 
open  shop.  The  force  varies  very  much,  the  men  coming  and  going 
all  the  time.  At  the  time  this  inspection  was  made  the  foreman  was 
advertising  in  the  papers  of  near-by  cities  for  50  painters.  He  said 
quite  frankly  that  the  men  could  not  stand  the  work  as  long  as  they 
could  house  painting,  especially  because  of  the  turpentine  fumes. 
He  himself  had  had  both  lead  and  turpentine  poisoning. 

The  outside  painting  of  ships  is  not  particularly  trying,  done  as  it 
is  in  the  open  air  where  fumes  and  dust  are  blown  away.  Yet  some  risk 
there  must  be  in  sandpapering  the  dry  paint  and  in  removing  old  paint 
with  a  compressed  air  chipping  apparatus,  for  the  paint  above  the 
water  line  is  all  red  lead  or  white  lead.  Below  the  water  line  the  huU 
is  covered  first  with  an  anticorrosive  coat  applied  directly  on  the 
steel  and  consisting  of  zinc  oxide,  metallic  zinc,  and  Indian  red.  Over 
this  comes  an  antifouling  paint,  which,  as  it  is  poisonous,  keeps  the 
ship  bottom  clear  of  barnacles.  The  poison  is  usually  red  oxide  of 
mercury  on  a  zinc  base. 

'  Above  the  water  line  comes  red  lead  and  linseed  oil,  mixed  fresh 
every  day.  Two  coats  arc  applied,  the  first  one  sandpapered.  Then 
a  "rivet  cement"  which  contains  white  lead  is  applied  over  the  red 

'  In  the  United  States  Naval  Medical  Bulletin,  1912,  Vol.  VI,  p.  161,  Medical  Inspector  E.  R.  Stitl,  U.  S. 
Navy,  reports  three  cases  of  lead  poisoning  which  occurred  a,-!  the  result  of  1  he  inhalation  of  dust  from  old 
red-lead  paint.  The  men  liad  been  oinployed  in  chipping  off  this  paint  in  the  compartment  of  a  torpedo 
boat  destroyer.  All  of  them  suffered  profound  nervous  symptoms  wliich  masked  tlio  true  condil  ion  so  that 
lead  poisoning  was  not  suspected  until  a  blood  examination  showed  basophilic  changes  in  the  red  cells. 
One  of  the  three  developed  maniac  depressive  insanity,  the  second  had  epileptic  form  seizures,  and  the 
tliird  was  apparently  in  the  early  stigo  of  dementia  praccox  of  the  hebephrenic  typo,  later  developing  a 
neuritLs  of  both  arm.s.  All  three  recovered.  Strangely  enough,  there  were  no  other  c;ises  of  plumbism 
among  the  men,  no  typical  case  of  colic.  Stitt  believes  that  encephalopathy  is  more  likely  to  result  from 
dust  inhalation  than  from  other  mode  of  poisoning. 


HYGIENE   OF   THE' PAINTEES'   TEADE.  41 

lead  and  sandpapered  and  then  two  or  more  coats  of  pure  white  lead  in 
linseed  oil  with  a  little  turpentine.  Each  coat  is  sandpapered  before 
the  next  is  applied. 

Much  more  unhealthful  is  the  inside  work,  for  here  white  lead  paint 
is  sandpapered  and  there  is  in  addition  much  more  turpentine  than, 
in  the  outside  work.  The  last  coats,  often  consisting  of  equal  parts 
of  zinc  oxide  and  white  lead,  are  rich  in  turpentine;  indeed  the  very- 
last  coat  may  contain  no  oil  at  all,  being  thinned  with  turpentine  alone. 
The  painters  say  that  this  part  of  the  work  is  very  trymg,  and  in  the 
lower  parts  of  the  ship  the  fumes  from  turpentine  are  sometimes  so 
strong  as  to  overcome  the  men  so  that  they  have  to  be  carried  out  and 
laid  on  the  deck  to  revive.  Four  men  in  this  yard,  who  were  recently 
asked  to  hurry  through  the  painting  of  a  cabin  which  had  no  ventila- 
tion because  the  fan  was  not  working,  developed  symptoms  of  tur- 
pentine poisoning  before  they  had  finished  the  day.  The  fumes  were 
so  strong  that  they  could  work  only  15  minutes  without  going  up  to 
the  fresh  aii\  They  suffered  from  pain  in  the  lumbar  region,  stran- 
gury and  bloody  urine. 

Petroleum  fumes  are  given  off  from  the  "bituminous  composition" 
used  in  the  w^ater  bottoms  and  tanks.  This  is  a  mixture  of  Trinidad 
asphalt,  rosin,  and  coal  tar  melted  together  and  strained  and  applied 
when  hot.  It  is  considered  a  good  preservative  for  steel  surfaces. 
Dense  white  fumes  come  off  from  this  mixture,  which  are  extremely 
irritating  to  the  ej^es  and  throat,  and  many  men  suffer  also  from  head- 
ache, nausea,  and  symptoms  of  intoxication.  One  man  m  this  yard 
became  wildly  delirious  while  at  work  with  it,  but  recovered  in  the 
fresh  au'.  Other  men  notice  the  effect  more  when  they  reach  the  open 
air,  and  reel  and  stagger  like  drunken  men.  In  this  shipyard,  efforts 
are  made  to  relieve  the  situation  when  the  men  are  appl3dng  this 
bituminous  paint  in  the  water  bottoms.  A  fan  is  placed  in  each  of 
the  two  small  manholes  leading  down  from  the  lowest  deck  to  the 
water  bottoms,  and  air  is  driven  in  and  sucked  out  again;  but  in  addi- 
tion to  thi3  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  a  pipe  with  compressed  air  and 
place  it  so  that  the  blast  drives  awa}^  the  fumes  from  before  the 
painter's  face.  Even  with  these  attempted  ameliorations  the  work 
is  refused  by  white  painters  and  only  Negroes  can  be  got  to  do  it. 
The  white  men  insist  that  they  suffer  from  the  fumes  which  escape 
from  the  water  bottoms  and  reach  the  parts  of  the  ship  where  they 
are  working.  It  is  said  that  a  certain  tolerance  to  the  fumes  is  estab- 
lished ill  some  men;  the  Negro  engaged  in  making  the  mixture  has 
done  that  sort  of  work  for  10  years,  and  apparently  he  suffered  no  dis- 
comfort when  standing  in  thick  white  clouds  which  came  from  the 
kettle  and  which  were  very  u-ritating  to  the  investigator  standing  15 
feet  away. 


42  BULLETIN   OF   THE  BUREAU   OF   LABOE   STATISTICS. 

Another  feature  of  ship  paintmg  wliich  makes  it  worse  than  house 
painting  is  the  fact  that  the  piecework  system  is  in  force  in  shipyards. 
This  means  that  the  men  work  as  fast  as  they  can  and  p&y  little  or  no 
attention  to  keeping  clean.  Ship  painters  say  that  they  need  three 
or  four  times  as  many  clean  pairs  of  overalls  as  they  do  when  they  are 
house  painting.  Most  of  them  wear  gloves,  which  is  an  advantage. 
The  noon  period  is  40  minutes  in  this  particular  yard,  but  the  washing 
facilities  are  insufficient,  only  three  basins  for  75  men,  and  the  basins 
are  at  a  long  distance  from  parts  of  the  yard.  The  result  is  that  not 
nearly  all  of  the  men  wash  their  hands  before  eating. 

WAGON  AND  CARRIAGE  PAINTING. 

This  may  be  one  of  the  safest  branches  of  the  painter's  trade  or  it 
may  be  one  of  the  most  dangerous.  As  a  rule  the  large  factories 
are  safer  than  the  small  shops  and  the  cheaper  grades  of  work  safer 
than  the  more  expensive  grades.  There  is  an  unduly  large  propor- 
tion of  lead-poisoned  painters  m  the  smaller  carriage  and  wagon 
shops,  where  all  the  work  is  carried  on  in  the  same  room,  is  done  by 
hand,  and  the  dust  from  sandpapering  contaminates  the  au',  exposing 
to  lead  dust  even  those  workmen  who  are  not  engaged  in  dusty  work. 
!Many  of  those  painters  are  newly  arrived  foreigners,  who  may  be 
quite  ignorant  of  the  dangers  of  the  work  and  of  the  way  to  protect 
themselves,  coming  as  they  do  from  an  agricultural  life  without  any 
experience  in  work  of  this  sort.  The  sandpapering  of  wheels  is  the 
most  prolific  source  of  lead  poisoning  in  these  shops. 

A  fairly  high-priced  carriage,  or  an  automobile  with  a  wooden  body, 
is  first  oiled ;  then,  after  thorough  drying,  receives  a  coat  of  white  lead 
paint  and  then  white  lead  putty  to  fill  all  mequalities  of  the  wood. 
This  is  sandpapered.  A  coat  of  ''rough  stuff"  and  white  lead  and 
several  coats  of  rough  stuff  alone  follow,  these  last  bemg  rubbed 
down,  but  the  dust  is  quite  free  from  lead.  Color  coats  and  color 
varnish  coats  are  smoothed  with  pumice  and  felt  and  finally  with 
pumice  and  water.  Cheaper  vehicles  have  fewer  coats  of  rough  stuff, 
color,  and  varnish,  but  the  most  dangerous  part  of  the  work,  the 
sandpapering  of  lead  putty  and  paint,  is  done  on  the  cheaper  work 
also.  Painting  white  milk  carts  with  many  coats  of  white  lead  is 
one  of  the  worst  branches  of  this  industry  in  Chicago. 

Repairing  and  rcpamting  old  carriages  and  automobiles  is  not  pro- 
ductive of  much  lead  dust.  If  the  old  paint  is  sandpapered  it  is 
chiefly  varnish  dust  that  comes  off;  the  rubbing  does  not  go  deep 
enough  to  reach  the  lead  paint.  For  thorough  repairing  the  paint 
is  burned  off.     Metal  parts  are  treated  with  paint  removers. 

When  the  work  is  done  on  a  very  large  scale  the  gear,  body,  and 
wheels  of  the  wagons  and  carriages  are  dipped  by  machinery  in  great 
tanks  of  pahit,  and  painting  by  hand  may  be  limited  to  the  decora- 
tions on  the  last  coat.     In  one  factory  employing  300  painters  all 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS'   TRADE.  43 

but  a  few  are  engaged  in  dipping.  This  is  the  method  in  use  in  this 
place:  The  gear  of  the  wagon  is  dipped  in  a  tank  of  leadless  paint, 
the  primer,  swung  out  over  a  drip  board,  and  when  almost  dry- 
rubbed  of^  rapidly  with  sandpaper.  Then  it  is  dipped  in  paint  which 
contains  50  per  cent  orange  mineral  or  lead  oxide,  but  this  coat  is  not 
sandpapered.  In  the  same  way  the  wheels  and  bodies  of  the  wagons 
are  covered  with  a  leadless  primer  and  a  coat  of  lead  paint,  either 
the  oxide  or  the  chromate.  The  only  danger  comes  from  the  satura- 
tion of  the  clothes  of  the  pamter,  who  is  smeared  from  top  to  toe 
with  paint.  The  men  who  dip  the  wheels  in  shallow  tanks  of  paint 
use  their  feet  to  make  the  wheel  turn  around  in  the  paint,  and  even 
their  shoes  are  soaked  through.  It  requires  a  great  deal  of  effort, 
repeated  every  night,  to  get  rid  of  this  paint,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  men  do  not  get  rid  of  it.  A  Hungarian  physician  who  saw  these 
painters  in  his  practice  said  that  he  could  always  tell  in  which  depart- 
ment a  man  was  workmg  by  looking  at  the  skin  of  his  arms.  This 
physician  Ireats  many  cases  of  chronic  lead  poisoning  and  a  few 
cases  of  acute  lead  poisoning. from  this  factory.  The  painters  who 
do  the  dipping  are  foreigners  and  many  of  them  have  never  painted 
before,  for  the  work  requires  very  little  skill.  In  proportion  to  the 
number  of  men  employed  thece  is  not  much  lead  poisoning  in  this 
factory,  showing  that  when  dust  is  eliminated  a  good  deal  of  the 
danger  has  been  removed.^ 

In  this  same  factory  the  finer  work  on  carriages  requires  more 
hand  painting  and  sandpapermg  and  less  dippmg.  Carriage  wheels 
are  given  three  coats  of  a  practically  pure  white  lead  paint,  and  are 
sandpapered  twice,  the  dust  bemg  brushed  off  with  a  large  soft  brush. 
As  for  the  body  of  the  carriages,  these  must  have  from  20  to  25  coats, 
many  of  them  of  lead  paint.  Only  those  applied  first  are  rubbed 
with  sandpaper,  the  later  coats  are  rubbed  down  with  pumice  and 
water.  In  this  factory  the  different  processes  are  carried  on  m  sepa- 
rate rooms,  which  is  a  great  advantage. 

AUTOMOBILE  PAINTING. 

There  has  been  a  great  change  m  the  method  of  painting  auto- 
mobiles in  this  country,  since  steel  and  aluminum  have  almost  dis- 
placed wood  m  the  construction,  and  fortunately  the  change  has 
resulted  m  makmg  the  work  of  the  pamter  less  dangerous  than 
formerly. 

In  a  large  factory  employing  515  painters,  where  low-priced  auto- 
mobiles are  made,  the  following  method  is  used:  The  steel  bodies 
and  fenders  are  either  dipped  or  sprayed  v/ith  a  priming  coat  which 
contains  lead,  color  coats  and  color  varnishes  that  are  free  from  lead. 

1  A  careful  inquiry  was  made  in  the  city  where  the  factory  in  question  is  situated  and  23  physicians  were 
interviewed.  With  the  exception  of  the  Hungarian  doctor  quoted  above,  none  of  these  physicians  had  seen 
much  lead  poisoning  from  the  factory,  and  records  could  be  obtained  of  only  9  recent  cases. 


44  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

Sandpapering,  the  worst  feature  of  carriage  painting,  is  not  required 
at  all.  The  only  rubbhig  down  is  done  on  the  final  coats  with  water 
and  pumice.  Chassis  receive  three  coats  by  hand,  the  first  one  bemg 
lead  and  oil,  the  other  two  being  color  varnishe^s.  A  little  dry  sandpa- 
pering is  done  on  this  first  coat.  Fenders  are  simply  dipped.  Wheels 
are  primed  with  linseed  oil  and  white  lead,  but  not  sandpapered  nor 
puttied;  they  are  then  dipped  by  machinery  in  a  coat  of  lead  paint, 
and  then  in  color  varnish.  There  is  no  sandpapering  at  all.  Very 
few  skilled  painters  are  required  in  this  factory;  most  of  the  men  are 
ordinary  day  laborers.    _ 

In  a  second  factory,  where  high-pried  automobiles  are  made,  the 
methods  differ  somewhat.  Here  the  bodies  and  fenders  are  of 
alummum.  Three  hundred  and  sixty  painters  are  employed,  a  great 
many  of  them  doing  unskilled  work.  The  priming  coat  for  the  alu- 
minum contains  no  lead,  and  though  the  putty  used  is  60  per  cent  white 
lead  it  is  not  sandpapered ;  in  fact  there  is  practically  no  sandpapering 
done  on  the  aluminum.  The  "rough-stuff"  coats,  consistmg  of 
about  20  per  cent  w4iite  lead,  are  not  rubbed,  and  the  color  and  color- 
varnish  coats,  also  containing  white  lead,  are  rubbed  with  pumice 
and  water.  Wheels  are  pamted  with  a  priming  coat  of  oil  and  a  little 
white  lead;  then  an  earthen  filler  is  rubbed  in  wath  the  hand,  but 
this  is  free  from  lead.  The  color  coats  contain  lead,  but  they  are  not 
sandpapered.  Of  course  many  natural-wood  wheels  are  also  used  with 
varnish  only,  no  paint. 

Thus  the  most  dangerous  part  of  coach  painting,  the  dry  sand- 
papermg  of  lead  paint  and  putty,  has  been  practically  eliminated 
from  automobile  factories  and  hand  work  has  been  largely  displaced 
by  dipping  and  spraying. 

Both  these  factories  are  new,  large,  roomy,  well  ventilated,  and 
scrupulously  clean.  In  me  of  them,  heavy  paper  to  catch  the  paint 
Is  tacked  down  every  day  under  the  machines  and  is  taken  up  at 
night,  leaving  the  floor  clean.  Detroit  is  the  chief  center  of  the  auto- 
mobile industry,  and  lead  poisoning  is  a  rarity  there,  both  in  the 
hospitals  and  in  the  practice  of  outside  physicians.  The  Detroit 
local  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Painters  and  Decorators  has  some  25  oj 
its  members  employed  in  automobile  factories,  and  the  secretary 
stated  that  lead  poisoning  is  not  at  all,  common  in  this  branch  oJ 
painting. 

This  class  of  painting  is  done  in  either  nonunion  or  open  shops,  anc 
the  piecework  system  is  general. 

RAILWAY-CAR  PAINTING. 

A  new  method  of  painting  railway  cars  has  come  in  with  the  intro- 
duction of  steel  construction.  Lead-sulphate  paint  has  been  founc 
by  one  large  company  to  be  well  adapted  for  covering  steel  and,  aj 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS '   TBADE.  45 

wc  have  seen  already,  the  adoption  of  this  paint  in  place  of  the  for- 
mer lead-carbonate  paint  was  followed  by  great  improvement  in  the 
health  of  the  men.  Wooden  passenger  coaches,  refrigerator  cars, 
and  street  railway  cars  are  still  painted  with  lead  carbonate,  the  pro- 
portion of  lead  carbonate  depending  on  the  color  that  is  used.  Light 
colors  are  richer  in  lead  carbonate  than  are  the  darker  colors.  Freight 
and  baggage  cars  are  painted  with  leadless  paint. 

Much  of  what  has  been  said  about  automobile  painting  is  true  of  this 
class  of  work  as  well.  These  shops  usually  employ  both  union  and 
nonunion  men.  The  work  is  in  part  skilled  work,  requiring  expe- 
rienced painters,  m  part  it  is  very  simple,  such  as  can  be  done  by  day 
laborers.  Sandpapering  of  lead  paint  must  be  done  on  passenger 
coaches  and  street  cars,  and  in  repair  shops  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
sandpapering  and  burning  off  of  old  lead  paint,  the  dry  fragments  of 
which  are  often  allowed  to  accumulate  on  the  floor  of  the  shop  until 
they  are  ground  to  dust.  Fortunately  the  v/ork  is  usually  carried  on 
in  large,  well-ventilated  barns.  The  worst  part  is  painting  and  sand- 
papering interiors,  toilet  rooms,  or  ceilings  of  passenger  coaches  and 
the  inside  of  railway  mail  cars. 

AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS,  STRUCTURAL  IRON,  ETC. 

The  painting  of  agricultural  implements  is  hardly  a  lead  trade  any 
longer.  In  the  two  plants  visited,  one  employing  75  and  the  other 
165  men^  in  the  paint  departments,  very  Httle  if  any  lead  pamt  is  used. 
Seven  men  out  of  the  75  in  the  first  factory  use  it  in  stenciling  and 
stripmg.  The  painting  consists  m  dipping  by  machinery  into  tanks 
of  leadless  paint. 

Structural  iron  also  is  painted  more  and  more  with  leadless  paint. 
When  red  lead  is  demanded,  it  is  usually  applied  in  the  shop  by  men 
who  are  not  painters  by  trade  and  who  do  this  work  only  occasionally. 
If  it  must  be  applied  after  the  ii'on  is  in  place,  it  is  done  by  house 
painters,  a  small  number  of  whom  are  willing  to  undertake  this  rather 
hazardous  w^ork  on  buildings  and  bridges.  The  statement  is  made 
by  bridge  and  tank  contractors  that  three-fourths  of  the  paint  used 
on  then-  work  is  carbon  or  graphite  or  coal-tar  pamt.  When  red 
lead  is  used,  the  ready  prepared  variety  is  chosen  unless  specifica- 
tions call  for  dry  red  lead  in  linseed  oil, 

FURNITURE,  PICTURE  FRAMES,  MOLDINGS,  ETC. 

This  branch  of  factory  painting  is  of  very  little  importance,  for 
leadless  paints  are  used  almost  entirely.  One  large  paint  house 
stated  that  it  had  given  up  that  branch  of  the  trade  as  the  demand 
for  lead  paint  was  too  little  to  be  worth  while  troubling  about. 

1  This  company  employs  840  painters  in  all  its  plants. 


46  BULLETIN   OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOR   STATISTICS. 

LEAD  POISONING  AMONG  PAINTERS  IN  EUROPE. 

It  is  harder  to  control  lead  poisoning  in  the  painting  trade  than  in 
any  other,  and  no  country  has  been  able  to  bring  the  trade  under 
supervision  so  as  to  reduce  the  amount  of  industrial  poisoning  as  has 
been  done  by  means  of  sanitary  regulations  in  such  industries  as  white 
lead,  smelting,  paint  grinding,  or  pottery  glazing. 

In  Germany,  according  to  Fleck,^  other  lead  trades  have  shown 
gi-eat  improvement  in  recent  years  in  the  incidence  of  plumbism,  but 
it  is  rare  to  find  in  any  place  a  diminution  in  the  number  of  lead- 
poisoned  painters.  Fleck  says  that  plumbism  is  really  the  occupa- 
tional disease  par  excellence  of  painters,  and  he  believes  that  a  complaint 
of  sickness  on  the  part  of  a  painter  should  at  once  arouse  suspicion  of 
lead  poisoning.  Among  the  common  causes  of  death  among  painters 
are  acute  and  chronic  nephritis,  apoplexy,  meningitis,  suppuration^ 
and  septicsBmia  from  wounds.  In  Berlin  in  1903  the  general  death 
rate,  leaving  out  children  under  1  year,  was  11.61  per  1,000  inhabit- 
ants, while  for  painters  over  14  years  it  was  14.  "Without  exag- 
geration it  may  be  stated  that  every  member  of  this  industry,  if  he 
does  not  die  early  from  some  other  disease,  is  almost  sure  to  be 
affected  some  time  mth  saturnism.  Indeed,  it  has  been  stated  that 
five  years  is  the  longest  possible  period  between  the  beginning  of  lead 
absorption  and  the  outbreak  of  the  intoxication." 

Fleck  gives  the  morbidity  rate  from  plumbism  per  100- painters  in 
Berlin  in  1905  as  7.9,  the  mortahty  rate  per  100  German  painters 
in  1905  as  1.3.  Moreover,  Sommerfeld,^  in  writing  on  lead  poisoning 
in  painters,  says:  "In  studying  the  sickness  statistics  of  painters  we 
must  remember  that  the  effects  of  lead  are  often  given  as  an  inde- 
pendent disease;  for  example,  gastric  catarrh,  nervous  troubles,  and 
rheumatism.  Of  course  nobody  can  say  how  many  of  these  were 
influenced  by  the  lead,  but  experts  agree  that  the  number  of  lead- 
poisoning  cases  is  higher  than  figures  show." 

The  statistics  of  lead  poisoning  among  painters  in  Great  Britain  are 
incomplete  because  house  painting  docs  not  come  under  the  factory 
and  workshop  act,  which  requires  physicians  to  report  cases  of  plum- 
bism to  the  Home  Office.  Many  physicians,  however,  do  voluntarily 
report  their  cases,  and  the  number  thus  sent  in,  though  not  complete, 
is  larger  than  that  reported  from  any  other  one  industr}'.  In  1909, 
167  cases  were  reported  among  painters,  7  of  them  fatal.  Lcgge  and 
Goadby  estimate  9,418  cases  in  this  industry  in  a  year,  but  in  the 
absence  of  information  as  to  the  number  of  })ainters  in  Great  Britain, 
it  is  not  possible  to  say  how  large  a  morbidity  rate  this  is.  Painters 
would,  of  course,  be  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  industrial  plumbism  in 
any  country  because  numerically  they  stand  at  the  head  of  the  lead 
trades. 

I  Wcyl,  llandbuch  der  Arbeilfrkraiikheiten,  Jena,  1908,  p.  513. 
»  Uandbuch  der  Gewerbekraiikheiten,  Berlin,  1898. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE    PAlNTEES'    TRADE. 


47 


The  industries  in  Great  Britain  which  show  a  diminution  of  phimb- 
ism  in  the  last  10  years  are,  as  in  Germany,  those  which  are  sub- 
ject to  strict  regulation,  as,  for  instance,  the  making  of  white  lead, 
where  the  cases  numbered  358  in  1900  and  only  32  in  1909.  In  the 
painting  industry,  on  the  contrary,  no  improvement  is  noticeable. 
Coach  painting,  ship  painting,  and  painting  in  other  industries  were 
responsible  for  152  cases  in  1900,  144  cases  in  1903,  140  in  1906,  and 
167  in  1909. 

There  is  also  a  larger  proportion  of  severe  cases  and  a  smaller 
proportion  of  mild  cases  among  the  painters  who  suffer  from  plum- 
bism  than  among  the  cases  reported  from  the  other  lead  industries, 
as  the  following  shows: 

PER  CENT  OF  CASES  OF  PLUMBISM  OF  EACH  SPECIFIED  DESCRIPTION  IN  GREAT 

BRITAIN. 


Industry. 


Coach  painting 

Ship  painting 

Painting  in  other  industries 

Average  for  other  lead  industries 


Severe. 


Moderate. 


26.0 
35.  6 
.31.4 
28.2 


27.6 
19.  .5 
2.3.9 
24.7 


Mild. 


43.2 
41.4 
43.0 
44.7 


First 

attack. 


59.8 
C9.0 
.58.8 
67.4 


Second 
attack. 


Third 

attack. 


18.7 
15.7 
20.5 
15. 5 


16.8 
9.2 
17.5 
13.4 


The  statistics  on  lead  poisoning  in  the  painter's  trade  in  France 
have  been  the  subject  of  bitter  controversy  between  those  who 
advocate  the  prohibition  of  white  lead  i3aint  and  the  master  painters. 
It  is  difficult  to  glean  impartial  statements  from  the  mass  of  evidence 
on  both  sides.  In  the  Senate  report  of  1900  the  answers  of  6,750 
master  painters  and  painters  are  given  to  questions  propounded  by 
the  Government.  Of  these,  134  reported  that  they  had  had  lead 
poisoning. 

An  Austrian  governmental  report  of  1907  gives  the  results  of  an 
official  inquiry  into  the  use  of  lead  paint  in  the  painting  trade.  The 
report  is  a  very  thorough  description  of  the  different  branches  of  the 
painter's  trade  in  that  country,  the  measures  for  protecting  the 
workmen,  and  the  health  of  the  latter  as  shown  by  sickness  insurance 
statistics.^ 

A  great  deal  of  rod  lead  is  used  for  structural  ironwork  in  Austria 
and  for  ship  painting,  though  in  the  latter  industry  zinc  white  is 
beginning  to  replace  white  lead.  For  railway  cars  also  the  tendency 
is  to  use  lithopone  and  zinc  white  but  wagons  and  carriages  are  still 
painted  with  white  lead  except  in  one  establishment  where,  contrary 
to  usual  custom,  even  the  outside  coats  consist  of  zinc  white.  Agri- 
cultural implements  are  painted  with  red  lead  and  white  lead. 

The  seasonal  variation  in  the  incidence  of  plumbism  among  painters 
has  been  interestingly  worked  out  in  the  Austrian  publication  quoted, 
and  the  curve  of  lead  poisoning  follows  in  general  the  curve  of  em- 

»  Austria.    Arbeitsstatistisches  amt.  Bleivergiftungen  in  hiittenmiinnischen  and  gewerblichen  Betrie- 
ben.    Ursachen  und  Bekampfung  5.    Teil.    Wien,  1910. 


48  BULLETIN    OF    THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

ployment,  only  as  one  would  expect  it  lags  somewhat  behind.  The 
highest  points  in  the  curve  of  employment  are  reached  in  August, 
September  and  October,  while  the  greatest  amount  of  lead  poisoning 
comes  in  October,  November,  and  December. 

The  investigators  distinguish  between  the  two  kinds  of  work, 
inside  and  outside  painting,  for  they  find  that  by  far  the  greatest 
amount  of  lead  poisoning  is  caused  in  the  former  work  and  this  they 
attribute  to  dry  rubbing  and  the  resulting  contamination  of  the  air 
with  poisonous  dust.  The  report  states  that  there  is  great  lack  of 
proper  sanitary  supervision  of  this  industry  in  Austria  and  while  the 
difficultios  in  the  way  of  providing  facilities  for  cleanliness  are  much 
greater  when  the  work  is  done  outside  of  factories,  still  these  diffin 
culties  are  not  insuperable.  For  outside  work  it  would  be  quite 
possible  to  provide  for  wash  basins,  wardrobe,  and  lunch  room  in  the 
building  put  up  by  the  contractor  to  shelter  materials  and  blue  prints. 
For  inside  work,  a  room  could  always  be  set  apart  as  wardrobe  and 
wash  room,  anothei  as  lunch  room. 

As  we  shall  see  later,  the  findings  of  this  report  resulted  in  the  pas- 
sage of  a  law  w^hich  among  other  things  forbids  dry  sandpapering  of 
lead  paint  and  restricts  very  largely  the  use  of  lead  paint  in  interior 
work. 

LEAD  POISONING  AMONG  PAINTERS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  statements  made 
under  this  heading  are  only  tentative  and  that  it  is  absolutely  impos- 
sible to  make  even  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  amount  of  lead 
poisoning  that  exists  among  painters  in  this  country. 

SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION. 

The  United  States  census  for  1910  is  not  yet  available,  but  in  any 
case  it  would  be  of  little  value  because  it  gives  no  information  as  to 
morbidity  rates,  only  mortality,  and  for  many  reasons  mortality  sta- 
tistics are  of  little  value  in  a  study  of  lead  poisoning.  Rarely  does 
a  ])ainter  die  of  uncomplicated  and  typical  lead  poisoning.  The 
immediate  cause  of  death  is  usually  some  chronic  lesion  which  has 
been  set  up  by  the  slow  absorption  of  lead,  but  the  physician  in  mak- 
ing outhis  death  certificate  gives  the  disease  which  is,  strictly  speaking, 
a  secondary  cause  of  death  as  the  principal  cause,  and  the  underlying 
chronic  plumbism  is  eith{>r  omitted  or  mentioned  as  a  contributory 
cause. 

The  Prudential  Insurance  Co.  has  published  mortality  statistics 
which  have  the  gnmt  advantage  of  d(uiling  with  painters  as  a  separate 
class,  but  they  also  are  mortality  .statistics  and  the  number  of  deaths 
from  lead  poisoning  is  low,  42  out  of  2,783.  The  figures  correspond 
fairly  well  with  those  given  ])y  Fleck  for  German  painters  in  1905, 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS '   TRADE.  49 

although  the  classification  of  causes  of  death  is  not  the  same  in  all 
cases.  In  Fleck's  records  the  mortality  from  lead  poisoning  is  1.3 
per  cent;  from  nervous  diseases,  7.8  per  cent;  from  heart,  kidney  and 
liver  troubles,  20.8  per  cent;  while  the  Prudential  figures  under  the 
same  headings  are  1.5,  10.7,  and  35.9  per  cent,  respectively.  The 
large  rate  for  resphatory  diseases  among  the  German  painters,  41.6 
per  cent,  as  compared  with  the  Prudential,  26.3  per  cent,  makes  up 
for  this  difference. 

As  to  morbidity  records,  they  are  very  scanty.  The  report  of  the 
Illinois  Commission  on  Occupational  Diseases  for  1911  gives  578  cases 
of  industrial  lead  poisoning  occurring  between  1908  and  1910,  inclusive. 
One  hundred  and  fifty-seven  of  these,  or  27  per  cent,  were  painters. 
The  report  states  that  these  cases  were  gained  mostly  through  the 
records  of  the  union  and  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  at  those 
among  nonunion  men,  who  make  up  so  much  of  the  force  in  railway, 
wagon,  and  carriage  works. 

In  the  course  of  an  investigation  of  the  white  and  red  lead  indus- 
tries, 300  cases  of  lead  poisoning  were  gathered  from  hospital  records 
in  four  cities  and  classified  according  to  occupation.  Ninety-two  of 
them  were  painters,  not  quite  one-third.  These  cities,  Chicago,  Phila- 
delphia, Camden,  and  Cincinnati,  all  contain  white-lead  factories,  so 
that  the  proportion  of  painters  is  probably  lower  on  that  account. 
In  New  York,  painters  seem  to  make  up  the  great  majority  of  victims 
of  industrial  plumbism.  The  Report  on  Occupational  Diseases,  by 
E.  E.  Pratt,  published  by  the  New  York  Factory  Investigating  Com- 
mission in  1912,  gives  the  records  of  109  cases  of  industrial  lead 
poisoning,  no  less  than  42  of  them  painters.  In  Bulletin  No.  95^  Bureau 
of  Labor,  John  B.  Andrews  quotes  the  record  of  one  New  York  hospital 
in  which  59  cases  had  been  treated,  28  of  whom,  or  a  little  less  than 
one-half,  were  painters.  Among  the  60  fatal  cases  of  industrial 
poisoning  studied  by  Dr.  Andrews,  40,  or  two-thirds,  had  been  painteis, 
showing,  apparently,  that  the  form  of  lead  poisonmg  from  which 
painters  suffer  is  above  the  average  in  severity,  for  the  proportion  of 
painters  among  the  fatal  cases  in  New  York  is  higher  than  the  pro- 
portion among  hospital  cases.  This  accords  with  statistics  in  other 
countries  and  must  not  be  taken  to  mean  that  the  painters'  trade  is 
the  most  dangerous  of  the  lead  trades,  but  rather  that  men  remain 
longer  in  it.  Painters  are  sldlled  and  well-paid  workmen  and  cling 
to  their  occupation  as  long  as  possible. 

An  unusual  and  interesting  statistical  report  has  been  recently 
made  and  published  by  a  local  district  council  of  the  Brotherhood 
of  Painters,  Decorators  and  Paper  Hangers,  the  first  instance  of 
a  study  of  industrial   hygiene  made  by  the  mdustry  itself.     The 

92589°— 13 4 


50  BULLETIN   OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOR   STATISTICS. 

pamphlet,  which  was  compiled  by  J^  A.  Runnberg,  statistician 
for  Painters'  District  Council  No.  14,  and  published  in  Chicago  in 
1911,  deals  with  three  subjects:  (1)  Nationality  and  conjugal  con- 
dition; (2)  unemployment;  (3)  industrial  accidents  and  diseases. 
The  information  on  which  this  report  is  based  was  gathered  from 
1,388  letters  in  answer  to  7,195  questionnaires.  The  average  age  of 
these  1,388  men  reporting  was  41  years  and  3  months.  As  the  ques- 
tions related  to  nationality,  unemployment,  etc.,  as  well  as  to  dis- 
eases, it  is  not  probable  that  the  questions  w^ere  answered  chiefly  by 
men  who  had  been  ill  and  neglected  by  those  who  had  not.  Indeed, 
Mr.  Runnberg's  report  shows  that  the  answers  came  largely  from  four 
locals,  those  containmg  the  greatest  percentage  of  Scandmavian  and 
German  members.  It  may  be,  however,  that  the  number  reporting 
illness  is  somewhat  above  what  the  average  would  be  for  the  whole 
local.  The  particular  illness  reported  is  supposed  to  be  given  accord- 
ing to  the  diagnosis  of  the  physician  w^ho  treated  the  case. 

Number  questioned  from  4  local  unions 5,  031 

Number  reporting 1, 009 

Number  reporting  illness: 

Lead  i^oisoning 185 

Kidney  trouble 72 

Stomach  trouble *    24 

Rheumatism 77 

This  would  indicate  that  one  out  of  every  five  or  six  painters  (house 
pahiters  chiefl}^  has  had  lead  poisonmg  at  one  time  if  he  is  not  suffer- 
ing at  present  from  chronic  poisoning. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  figures  w^ith  the  result  of  a  similar 
inquiry  made  among  Austrian  paintei-s  by  the  Austrian  commission 
referred  to  above.  Of  208  painters  who  were  questioned,  50,  or  almost 
1  in  4,  gave  a  history  of  having  been  leaded  at  least  once,  most  of 
them  repeatedly. 

No  one  can  say  how  many  of  the  77  cases  of  rheumatism  and  the 
24  cases  of  "stomach  trouble"  were  to  be  attributed  to  the  use  of 
lead  paint;  some  of  the  cases  of  kidney  trouble  were  probably  to  be 
traced  to  the  effect  of  turpentine,  but  a  certain  proportion  would 
probably  have  to  be  explained  as  due  to  the  chronic  vascular 
changes — artcrio  sclerosis — characteristic  of  slow  lead  poisoning. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  these  figures  are  more  than  suggestive,  and 
since  there  was  no  absolutely  accurate  information  to  be  obtained  as 
to  the  frequency  of  lead  poisoning  in  this  industry,  it  was  decided  to 
select  a  typical  group  of  painters  and  have  a  thorough  medical  exam- 
ination made  of  each  one.  In  this  way  a  cross  section  of  the  indus- 
try could  be  presented  and  it  woukl  be  possible  to  say  how  large  a 
proportion    of   working,    not   disabled,    painters    belonging   to    that 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTERS '   TRADE.  51 

particular  class  showed  evidences  of  industrial  plumbism.  The 
Austrian  publication  already  quoted  gives  a  few  details  of  the  investi- 
gation made  among  painters.  Of  the  208  men  selected  112  had  the 
lead  line,  though  in  41  it  was  only  a  trace;  50  gave  a  history  of  lead 
poisoning,  and  23  of  these  said  that  their  first  attack  had  come  on  in 
consequence  of  the  dry  sandpapering  of  lead  paint. 

Our  investigation  was  carried  out  by  Dr.  E.  R.  Hayhurst,  formerly 
of  the  Illinois  Occupational  Disease  Commission,  now  of  Rush  Medical 
College,  Chicago. 

EXAMINATION  OF  100  PAINTERS  FOR  EVIDENCES  OF  LEAD  POISONING 
BY  EMERY  R.  HAYHURST,  M.  D.,  SPRAGUE  MEMORIAL  INSTITUTE  AND 
RUSH   MEDICAL   COLLEGE,  CHICAGO. 

These  examinations  were  made  between  February  22  and  April  4, 
1913.  The  source  of  material  was  from  the  membership  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian Local  Union  194,  Brotherhood  of  Painters,  Decorators,  and 
Paper  Hangers  of  America,  whose  officials,  particularly  Mr.  John  A. 
Runnberg,  statistician  and  trustee,  and  Mr.  G.  M.  Hansen,  secretary, 
arranged  to  have  the  men  come  at  stated  times  for  examination. 

These  workmen  constitute  the  highest  type  of  house  painters  to  be 
found  in  Chicago  as  regards  intelligence,  industry  and  thrift,  morality, 
personal  hygiene,  and  interest  in  personal  and  community  health. 
A  large  per  cent  were  of  foreign  extraction  and  training,  but  accord- 
ing to  their  own  statements  had  used  very  little  lead  paint  until 
coming  to  America. 

Age. 

Age  group.  Number. 

20  to  30  years 21 

31  to  40  years 26 

41  to  50  years ' 33 

51  to  60  years _17 

Over  60  years 3 

Branch  of  trade. 

General  painters,  many  doing  some  paper  hanging 63 

Interior  painters  and  decorators,  some  paper  hanging 32 

Exterior  painters,  exclusively 2 

Carriage  painters,  exclusively 1 

Paper  hangers,  doing  some  painting 2 

Nationality. 

Scandinavian 51 

German 9 

Hebrew 9 

Oth'er  foreign  born 11 

American 20 


52  BULLETIN    OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LAB03   STATISTICS. 

Time  at  trade. 

Two  men  had  begun  the  trade  at  the  ages  of  30  and  31,  but  with 
these  exceptions  all  had  begun  as  jT-ouths. 

Years  at  the  trade.  Number. 

Under  5  years 1 

G  to  10  years 17 

11  to  20  years 32 

21  to  30  years 28 

31  to  40  years 17 

41  to  50  years 4 

54  years 1 

Where  trade  was  learned. 

United  States 48 

Abroad 41 

Not  ascertained 11 

Time  lost  during  uinter  of  1912-13  because  of  lack  of  icork. 
Time  lost. 

Under  1  month 12 

Not  over  2  months 16 

Not  over  3  months ^ 10 

Not  over  4  months 19 

Not  over  5  months 2 

Over  5  months 3 

No  time  lost 21 

Not  ascertained 17 

It  should  be  stated  that  these  examinations  were  made  at  the  end 
of  the  winter  slack  season,  consequently  all  the  men  examined  should 
have  been  as  free  from  immediate  effects  of  lead  poisoning  as  possible. 

Marital  history. 

Number. 

Single  (always) 24 

Married 76 

Married,  but  wives  never  pregnant 11 

Father's  occupation  that  of  painting  in  15  cases. 

Significant  family  history. 

Tuberculosis:  Eight  positive,  4  questionable. 

Insanity  and  epilepsy:  Five  positive,  2  questionable,  out  of  70 
inquiries. 

Cancer:  Nine  positive  out  of  75  inquiries. 

Significant  personal  history. 

No  previous  disetiscs  otlicr  than  venereal  and  poisoning  from 
lead,  53. 

Operations  for  appendicitis,  2. 


HYGIEXE   OF   THE   PAIKTEKS'   TRADE.  53 

Wood  alcohol  poisoning,  3;  recovery  complete  in  1  case;  partial 
in  2. 

Forty-seven  gave  a  history  of  acute  infections  diseases,  1 1  of  mala- 
ria, 3  of  tuberculosis,  1  of  nephritis,  and  1  of  jaundice. 

The  inquiry  as  to  the  use  of  intoxicants  was  answered  with  apparent 
frankness;  34  said  they  drank  only  occasionally;  42  regularly,  but 
moderately;  14  drank  to  excess;  and  10  were  total  abstainers.  As 
would  be  expected  from  the  nationality  of  the  majority,  beer  was 
the  usual  beverage.  Twenty-two  never  drank  any  whisky,  and  the 
14  excessive  drinkers  preferred  beer.  There  was  no  reason  to  suspect 
that  any  of  them  were  given  to  the  use  of  habit-forming  drugs. 

In  taking  their  histories  the  examiner  encouraged  the  men  to  say 
what  they  considered  to  be  the  most  unhealthful  features  of  their 
work.  Practically  all  complained  of  being  made  sick  temporarily 
by  the  fumes  from  "hard  oiling"  (varnish  with  benzine  and  turpen- 
tine). Of  the  100,  99  complained  of  the  lead-paint  dust  from  sand- 
papering, the  one  exception  being  a  man  who  worked  at  paper  hanging 
chiefly;  70  of  them  complained  of  benzine  when  used  in  close  quar- 
ters; 64  of  turpentine.  None  of  them  used  wood  alcohol  to  any 
particular  extent,  except  the  3  victims  of  wood  alcohol  blindness  who 
had  been  working  in  brewery  vats. 

The  examination  included  a  careful  inquiry  into  past  history  of 
sickness  and  present  symptoms  of  ill  health,  followed  by  a  physical 
examination,  to  which  was  added  a  skin  test  for  the  detection  of 
remnants  of  lead  paint,  a  test  to  determine  the  strength  of  the  man's 
wrist  and  fingers,  and  a  test  for  the  determination  of  blood  pressure. 
Finally,  urine  and  blood  were  examined  in  the  usual  way,  and  in 
selected  cases  the  urine  was  subjected  to  an  electrolytic  test  for  the 
detection  of  lead,  and  a  special  test  was  applied  to  the  blood  to 
determine  the  resistance  of  the  red  blood  corpuscles  to  haemolysis 
(Liebermann's  procedure).  In  judging  of  the  results  of  these  exam- 
inations it  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  men  were  all  able- 
bodied  painters,  employed  at  the  time,  or  waiting  and  anxious  to  get 
employment. 

History  of  former  attacks  of  had  poisoning. 

Twenty-seven  men  gave  a  history  which  clearly  pointed  to  lead 
poisoning,  that  is,  they  told  of  one  or  more  attacks  of  abdominal  pain, 
constipation,  severe  headache  with  or  without  vomiting,  lasting  for 
several  days  and  not  accompanied  by  fever.  Eight  gave  a  history  of 
the  above  symptoms  only;  the  other  19  had  had  neuromuscular  dis- 
turbances as  well,  such  as  rheumatic  pains,  lumbago,  sciatica,  anaes- 
thesia, or  paresthesia,  especially  in  the  arms;  muscular  cramps, 
trembhng  and  twitching  of  the  muscles.  Two  had  had  paralysis — 
1  of  the  arms,  1  of  the  legs.     Four  had  had  an  attack  of  loss  of  con- 


54  BULLETIN   OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOR  STATISTICS. 

scioiisness  and  delirium,  one  of  whom  attributed  it  to  the  wood 
alcohol  with  which  he  was  working  at  the  time.  In  only  one  case 
was  the  deliiium  accompanied  by  fever,  and  in  none,  except  the 
wood- alcohol  case,  was  there  any  apparent  cause  for  the  attack. 
Ten  of  the  27  men  had  been  told  by  physicians  that  they  were  suffer- 
ing from  lead  poisoning;  3  more  were  not  sure  whether  the  diagnosis 
had  ever  been  made. 

Besides  these  27,  there  was  an  equal  number  of  men  whose  past 
histories  were  suggestive  of  lead  poisoning  but  not  as  clearly  so. 

Present  complaints.  , 

Seventy  men  described  symptoms  more  or  less  pronounced  pointing 
to  some  disturbance  of  health,  the  principal  ones  being  as  follows: 

Loss  of  strength 16 

Loss  of  weight 12 

"  Nervousness  " 33 

DIGESTIVE. 

Naucori 16 

Loss  of  appetite 24 

Foul  taste 33 

Vomiting 10 

Constipation 50 

Diarrhea 19 

Intestinal  pain 43 

Distention - 35 

SENSORIAL. 

Headache 50 

Vertigo 36 

Fainting 6 

Insomnia 22 

Depression 8 

Attacks  of  mental  confusion 8 

Memory  failing 22 

N  E  UROM ITSCUL  AR . 

Pains  in  the  joints 24 

"  Rheumatism  " 35 

Muscular  cramps 24 

Tremors 17 

Anaesthesia  or  paraesthesia,  especially  of  arms 26 

OCULAR. 

"Spots,"  double  vision,  or  failing  sight 30 

Itching  eyelids 14 

AURAL. 

Ringing — imperfect  hearing '. 40 

URIVARY. 

Incontinence — norturnal  frequency 38 

CIUCULATORV. 

Paljiitation — nosehleed 27 


HYGIENE   OF   THlT  PAINTEKS'   TEADE.  55 

Fifteen  of  the  men  were  evidently  suffering ^rom  neurasthenia. 

So  far  as  possible,  specific  causes  of  any  of  the  above  symptoms, 
other  than  lead  poisoning,  meant  that  such  symptoms  were  not 
included  in  the  above  table,  i.  e.,  (1)  in  cases  of  rupture;  visceralgia, 
constipation,  and  distention  were  omitted;  (2)  neuralgias  due  to 
teeth  were  omitted;  (3)  joint  pains  and  rheumatism  due  to  acute 
inflammatory  rheumatism  past  or  present  were  omitted;  (4)  defective 
vision  due  simi^ly  to  refractive  errors  was  omitted  as  far  as  possible; 
(5)  aural  disturbances  due  to  otitis  media  were  omitted  as  far  as 
possible;  (6)  urinary  disturbances  were  in  nearly  all  cases  due  to 
nocturnal  frequency,  not  to  venereal  diseases,  and  rarely  to  inconti- 
nence; most  cases  were  in  those  of  advancing  years;  only  one  due  to 
diabetes. 

Physical  examination. 

There  were  abnormal  physical  findings,  including  more  than  simply 
a  lead  line,  m  52  cases,  the  most  significant  of  which  are  the  following: 

General  emaciation 4 

Local  emaciation  (arms) (only  25  examined  in  this  respect) . .  5 

Prematurely  aged 8 

■    Lead  line  (10  not  pronounced) 19 

Pyorrhea  (17  very  pronounced) 51 

Tremor  of  lips  or  tongue * 27 

Tremor  of  hands .• 19 

Nystagmus 4 

Unequal  pupils 4 

Arterio  sclerosis  (5  others  suspicious) 6 

Incoordination  (arms) 17 

Wrist  reflexes  (2  absent,  2  much  increased) 4 

Pupil  reflexes  (absent) 2 

Heart 7. 21 

Lungs  (7  emphysema;  1  acute  bronchitis;  no  active  tubercular  lesions, 

although  14  were  suspicious) 20 

Enlarged  liver 6 

Gaseous  distention 7 

Gouty  toe  joint 8 

Edema  of  ankles  (6  with  varicose  veins) 7 

Knee  jerks  (3  absent,  13  exaggerated) 16 

Special  tests. 

1.  Sodium  Sulphide  Skin  Application. — Mereh"  as  a  matter  of 
interest,  a  sodium  sulphide  solution  (5  per  cent)  w^as  applied  to  the 
hand,  arm,  and  chest  of  90  of  these  men  to  see  if  invisible  particles  of 
lead  paint  were  still  clinging  to  the  skin  in  spite  of  thorough  washing. 
The  sodium  sulphide  turns  lead  paint  black  in  a  few  seconds,  so  that 
it  serves  to  demonstrate  even  tiny  particles  deep  down  in  the  skin. 
The  test  showed  the  presence  of  lead  paint  on  the  hands  and  wrist 
of  42  of  the  62  men  who  had  been  working  in  lead  paint  within 


56  BULLETIN   OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOR   STATISTICS. 

a  week  or  10  days,  although  in  all  these  cases  their  hands  and  arms 
had  been  washed  repeatedly.  The  most  striking  case  was  a  man  who 
had  not  worked  for  fully  two  weeks  and  liad  M^ashed  his  hands  at  least 
once  a  day  during  that  time,  yet  the  black  streaks  appeared  on  his 
skin  when  the  sodium  sulphide  w^.as  applied.  The  test  served  as  a 
very  impressive  lesson  to  the  men  in  the  necessity  for  thorough  wash- 
ing and  bathing. 

2.  Urinary  Analysis,*- — The  analysis  was  made  from  a  fresh  speci- 
men in  each  case,  and  in  addition  most  of  the  men,  in  response  to  a 
special  recpiest,  brought  a  pint  bottle  of  urine,  which,  being  added  to 
the  fresh  specimen,  gave  a  sufficient  quantity  for  the  determination 
of  lead  by  the  electrolytic  process.  For  this  last  test  29  cases  were 
selected  in  which  the  suspicion  of  lead  poisoning  was  most  strong. 

Albumin  and  casts 7 

Sugar 1 

Indican: 

Excessive 8 

Above  normal 19 

I>ead  present  (out  of  29  analyses) 2 

3.  Blood. — The  stained  smears  showed  a  slight  leucocytosis  in  5 
cases,  no  blood  diseases,  no  significant  granulation.  The  Lieber- 
mann  test  showed  2  cases  of  increase  of  the  resistance  c|uotient  of  the 
red  blood  corpuscles  in  21  tests  carried  out  on  selected  cases.  The 
hemoglobin  never  fell  below  90  per  cent  (Tallqvist)  and  below  95  per 
cent  in  only  3  cases. 

4.  Strength  of  hand  and  wrist. — This  was  determined  by  a 
dynamometer,  which  had  been  tested  on  35  men  who  were  not  painters, 
to  determine  the  average  reading,  which  proved  to  be  a  trifle  over  150. 
Tested  on  95  of  the  100  painters,  the  reading  showed  that  the  right 
hand  was  below  normal  in  41  of  the  95  cases,  the  left  hand  below  nor- 
mal in  20  cases.  Men  who  had  had  injury  to  the  wrist  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  test.  The  strength  of  the  wrist  extensors  was  determined 
also  by  the  dynamometer.  The  man  was  seated  in  an  armchair, 
with  liis  hand  tlro])ping  down  over  the  end  of  the  arm  of  the  chair. 
The  dynamometer  was  then  placed  on  the  top  of  the  hand  and  the 
man  asked  to  raise  his  hand  up  against  the  ph3'sician's  resistance 
on  the  dynamometer.  The  normal  average  of  readings  by  this  pro- 
c('(kire  had  been  found  to  be  considerably  over  30.  Sixteen  out  of  95 
painters  had  a  decided  loss  of  strength  in  the  extensor  of  the  right 
hand,  and  in  20  there  was  loss  in  the  left  hand. 

•  1  woiil'J  note  that  no  attempts  were  made  to  aj^certain  the  freciuency  of  chronic  interstitial  nephritis 
Irom  the  urinary  analyses,  because  only  a  single  specimen  or  so  was  available  and  it  was  considered  that 
blood-pressure  di?terininations  and  the  history  of  nocturnal  freepicncy  were  more  specific  in  determining 
this  condition.    K.  H.  ilayhurst. 


HYGIENE    OF    THE   PAINTEES'    TRADE.  57 

5.  Blood  pressure.— Tliis  was  determilied  with  a  mercury- 
manometer  (Mercer  type),  using  the  stethoscope  applied  to  the  cubital 
fossa  of  the  right  arm. 

Systolic  pressure  was  taken  toward  the  end  of  the  examination  in 
each  case,  so  as  to  eliminate  the  psychical  factors  as  much  as  possible 
and  also  when  possible  after  the  patient  had  seen  the  same  examina- 
tion done  on  a  previous  case.  The  cases  ranged  between  98  and  204 
mm.  Hg.  as  follows: 

Cases. 

Below  100  mm.  Hg 3 

100  and  below  110  mm.  Hg 9 

110  and  below  120  mm.  Hg 30 

120  and^below  130  mm.  Hg.  (5  were  under  30  years) 17 

130  and  below  140  mm.  Hg.  (4  under  40  years) 17 

140  and  below' 150  mm.  Hg.  (2  under  50  years) 12 

150  and  below  160  mm.  Hg.  (5  under  60  years) 6 

160  and  over  160  mm.  Hg.  (3  under  60  years) 6 

Total 100 

From  this  table  it  can  be  seen  that  there  were  41  cases  in  which  the 
systolic  pressure  was  130  or  over,  which,  according  to  Blum/  if  persist- 
ent, implies  contracted  kidneys.  However,  according  to  the  stricter 
Tule  (Johnston-Lavis),  that  the  systolic  pressure  should  not  be  over 
the  number  of  years  of  age  plus  100  for  adults,  there  are  in  this 
table  19  cases  with  abnormally  high  pressure. 

Diastolic  pressure  varied  from  62  to  112,  with  15  cases  over  90; 
14  of  these  high  diastolic  pressures  occurrmg  in  cases  with  abnormally 
high  systolic  pressures. 

Sumjnary 

Symptoms  of  acute  plumbism  were  not  found  in  any  case.  Indica- 
tions of  chronic  plumbism  were  found  in  at  least  59  cases.  It  is  not 
easy  to  summarize  these  records,  but  they  fall  fairly  weU  into  the 
following  groups: 

Group  1. — Includes  19  men  who  gave  a  clear  history  of  previous 
lead  poisoning  (12)  or  a  history  suggestive  of  lead  poisoning  (7),  were 
suffermg  at  the  time  from  symptoms  of  chronic  plumbism,  and  who 
m  addition  had  positive  physical  findings  and  gave  positive  results 
to  one  or  more  of  the  tests  described  above,  not  including,  of  course, 
the  sodium  sulphide  test. 

Group  2.— Includes  16  men  with  a  clear  history  (7)  or  a  suggestive 
history  (9)  of  lead  poisoning  and  who  complained  of  symptoms  of 
chronic  lead  poisoning  and  were  found  by  physical  examination  to 
have  signs  of  this  disease.    ■ 

iBlum  believes  that  a  continuously  high  blood  pressure  indicates  that  the  person  in  question  should 
be  forbidden  to  continue  working  in  a  lead  trade.  (Deutsche  medizinsche  Wochenschrift,  Lepzig  und 
Berlin,  1912,  Bd.  38,  No.  14.) 


58  BULLETIN   OF    THE   BUEEAU   OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

Group  3. — Seven  men  with  a  clear  history  (3)  or  a  suggestive  his- 
tory (4),  complaming  of  typical  symptoms  and  responding  posi- 
tively to  one  or  more  tests. 

Group  4. — Twelve  men  who  had  no  history  of  former  attacks,  but 
who  were  at  the  time  suffering  from  typical  symptoms  and  who  had 
positive  physical  fxudings  and  responded  to  one  or  more  tests. 

Group  5. — Five  men,  2  with  a  clear,  and  3  with  a  suggestive  history 
of  lead  poisoning,  not  complaining  of  ill  health  but  with  physical  signs 
pointing  to  clu*onic  plumbism  and  with  positive  response  to  one  or 
more  tests. 

The  following  nine  cases  might  be  looked  upon  as  suspicious.  Five 
were  men  whose  histories  were  suggestive  and  who  complained  of 
more  or  less  typical  symptoms,  but  physical  findings  and  tests  were 
negative.  Two  others  had  a  history  of  former  attacks  and  had 
marked  weakness  in  the  wrists.  One  man  had  a  lead  line  and  a 
suggestive  history  and  one  had  a  lead  Une  and  a  weak  wrist. 

HISTORIES    OF   100   LEAD-POISONED   PAINTERS. 

From  the  record  of  hospitals  and  dispensaries  the  histories  were 
gathered  of  100  painters  suffering  from  acute  or  chronic  lead  paisoning 
for  which  they  had  sought  medical  care.  An  analysis  of  these 
histories  shows  clearly  the  fact  that  painting,  being  a  skilled  and 
well-paid  trade,  is  hot  lightly  abandoned  because  of  sickness.  The 
average  length  of  empWment  of  these  100  painters  was  15.77  years, 
while  the  average  for  186  sanitary  ware  enamelers  had  been  found 
in  a  previous  study  ^  to  be  onl}'  6  years.  Twelve  per  cent  of  the 
painters  and  20  per  cent  of  the  enamelers  had  been  employed  less 
than  a  year  at  the  time  of  their  sickness.  The  following  table  gives 
the  length  of  employment  of  these  painters: 

Less  than  1  year 12 

1  to  5  years 12 

5  to  10  years 9 

10  to  15  years 13 

15  to  20  years 19 

20  to  30  years 17 

30  to  40  years 14 

Over  40  years 4 

Total 100 

Length  of  exposure  before  first  attack  of  sickness. 

1  to  6  months 15 

6  to  12  months 4 

1  to  5  years 8 

5  to  10  years 8 

10  to  15  years 8 

15  to  20  years 7 

20  to  30  years 3 

30  to  40  years 2 

Over  40  years 1 

Total 48 

«  Bulletin  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  No.  104,  p.  62. 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTEKS'   TRADE.  59 

The  development  of  lead  poisoning  among  painters  is  not  as  rapid 
as  it  is  dSnong  workmen  using  lead  who  are  engaged  in  dustier  voca- 
tions, where  the  period  of  exposure  before  the  onset  of  symptoms 
may  be  only  a  few  days.  Among  120  cases  of  lead  poisoning  in  the 
white-lead  industry  ^  74  per  cent  developed  after  less  than  one  year's 
exposure,  while  the  table  just  given  shows  that  in  only  19  per  cent  of 
the  painters  was  this  true. 

A  closer  examination  of  these  records  shows  that  certain  kinds  of 
painting  are  responsible  for  more  rapid  poisoning  than  others.  Of 
the  27  who  sickened  after  less  than  five  year's  employment,  16  were 
railway  car  or  carriage  painters;  4  only  were  house  painters.  Another 
element  that  enters  in  here,  however,  is  that  the  car  or  carriage 
painters  are  much  more  likely  to  be  unmarried  foreigners  working 
for  a  low  wage  and  therefore  more  likely  to  seek  hospital  and  dis- 
pensary care. 

Specific  statements  as  to  whether  the  attack  suffered  from  was  or 
was  not  the  first  attack  of  lead  poisoning  was  given  by  74  of  these  100 
painters.     Fifty  had  suffered  more  than  once. 

1  attack 24 

2  attacks 23 

3  attacks 5 

4  attacks , 2 

5  attacks 2 

6  attacks 2 

"Many"  or  "several" 16 

Total 74 

It  is  evident  that  men  vary  greatly  in  their  resistance  to  lead  poison- 
ing. Twelve  had  their  first  attack  within  three  months  of  beginning 
to  work,  .but  on  the  other  hand  there  were  6  who  had  worked  more 
than  20  years  before  they  were  aware  that  they  were  poisoned,  before 
their  first  acute  attack  of  plumbism.  It  is  well  to  mention  the  fact 
that  all  of  the  19  painters  who  sickened  in  less  than  a  year's  time  had 
been  working  inside  and  using  sandpaper. 

The  following  is  a  brief  summary  showing  the  character  of  the 
disease  from  which  these  painters  suffered: 

Acute  gastric  type  -without  complications 33 

Gastric  with  complications 49 

No  gastric  symptoms : 

Nervous  only 7 

Arthralgia  or  myalgia^ 4 

Myalgia  and  palsy 3 

Arteriosclerosis 3 

Arteriosclerosis  with  palsy 1 

Total 100 

1  Bulletin  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  95,  p.  224. 

2  It  was  not  always  possible  to  tell  from  the  history  sheet  whether  the  pains  were  In  the  joints  or  In 
the  muscles. 


60  BULLETIN   OF   THE  BUEEAU   OF   LABOR  STATISTICS. 

The  complications  were  as  follows : 

Palsy  (5  flight,  14  involving  more  than  one  limb) 39 

Encephalopathy  (transient  acute,  C;  mental  deterioration,  3) 9 

Eye  disturbances 11 

Arteriosclerosis  with  chronic  nephritis 8 

Arthralgia  or  myalgia  ' 24 

As  palsy  is  usually  one  of  the  later  symptoms  of  lead  poisoning, 
(me  would  expect  that  the  proportion  of  palsied  men  would  be  greater 
among  painters  than  among  men  who  sicken  more  quickly  and 
remain  a  shorter  time  in  their  employment.  Wlien  we  compare  the 
proportion  of  cases  of  palsy  found  among  177  lead-poisoned  enamelers, 
whose  records  were  studied,  with  the  figures  given  above,  we  find 
that  the  enamelers  had  only  15.9  per  cent,  while  for  the  painters  it 
was  39  per  cent.  The  painters  had  also  9  per  cent  of  encephalopathy," 
as  against  4  per  cent  among  enamelers. 

Twenty-seven  of  the  39  palsied  men  told  how  long  they  had  been 
employed  before  they  became  paralyzed.  It  was  less  than  10  years 
in  7  cases,  between  10  and  20  years  in  5,  and  20  years  or  over  in  15. 
The  three  that  had  the  shortest  exposure  were  two  railway-coach 
painters  and  one  ship  painter,  both  of  them  occupations  which  involve 
dry  sandpapering. 

The  occupations  in  which  the  100  men  were  engaged  are  not  very 
important,  as  they  would  be  different  in  different  cities.  Chicago  is, 
however,  fairly  typical  in  the  proportion  of  men  employed  in  the  vari- 
ous kinds  of  painting. 

The  occupations  of  the  100  painters  were  as  follows: 

House  painting 56 

Carriage  and  automobile  painting 24 

Railway  car  and  street  car  painting 12 

Iron  painting 4 

Sign  painting 3 

Ship  painting 1 

REGULATIONS   GOVERNING    USE   OF  LEAD    PAINTS    IN    EUROPEAN 

COUNTRIES. 

During  the  i)ast  20  jears  the  Governments  of  France,  Germany, 
Belgium,  Switzerland,  and  Austria  have  made  more  or  less  exhaustive 
infjuiries  into  the  dangers  to  which  painters  are  exposed  through  the 
use  of  lead  pamt,  inquiries  which  have  resulted  in  recommendations 
for  legislation  to  guard  against  these  dangers. 

Radical  measures  looking  toward  the  suppression  of  white-lead 
paint  have  been  adopted  in  France,  but  they  do  not  come  into  force 
until  January  1,  1915.  The  French  law  prohibiting  the  manufacture 
or  importation  of  white  lead  and  prohibiting  the  use  of  white-lead 

'  It  was  not  iihvays  possible  to  tell  from  the  history  sheet  wliclhor  the  pains  were  in  the  joints  or  in 
the  muscli's. 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTEES'   TRADE.  61 

paint  was  strongly  backed  by  the  medical  profession  in  France,  and 
physicians  in  Great  Britain,  Germany,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  and 
Austria  have  also  urged  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  white-lead  paint. 
The  commercial  interests  involved  have  as  strenuously  opposed  such 
measures,  although  they  have  expressed  themselves  as  not  opposed 
to  sanitary  regulations  looking  toward  the  elimination  of  preventable 
causes  of  lead  poisoning. 

In.  February,  1911,  the  British  Parliament  authorized  the  Hom§ 
Secretary  to  appoint  two  departmental  committees  to  investigate  (a) 
the  danger  attendant  on  the  use  of  paints  containing  lead  to  the 
health  of  the  persons  engaged  in  painting  buildings,  and  (b)  the 
danger  from  the  use  of  lead  compounds  to  the  health  of  the  persons 
engaged  in  painting,  enameling,  and  varnishing  coaches  and  car- 
riages. The  reports  of  these  committees  have  not  yet  been  made 
public. 

Following  is  given  a  brief  resume  of  the  essential  features  of  the. 
laws  and  regulations  in  regard  to  the  use  of  white-lead  paints  in 
leading  European  countries.     Great  Britain  is   omitted  from  this 
summary,  inasmuch  as  it  has  not  yet  brought  house  painting  under 
legislative  control. 

LAWS    AND    REGULATIONS    IN    REGARD    TO    THE    USE    OF    WHITE-LEAD 
PAINTS    IN    EUROPEAN    COUNTRIES. 

Germany. — Hand  mixing  of  white  lead  is  forbidden.  In  case  of  other  colors  use 
restricted  to  small  quantities  by  male  workers  over  18  years.  The  rubbing  of  fresh 
paint  or  old  paint  with  sandpaper  or  pumice  may  be  done  only  after  previous  dampen- 
ing. Workmen  who  come  in  contact  with  lead  colors  or  lead  mixtures  must  be 
instructed  as  to  the  dangers  to  their  health  and  furnished  with  leaflet  containing  pro- 
tective regulations.  Employers  must  see  that  workmen  coming  in  contact  with  lead 
provide  themselves  with  caps  and  work  clothes  and  that  they  are  used  during  work. 
Facilities  for  washing,  soap  and  towels,  and  brushes  for  the  cleaning  of  hands  and 
nails  must  be  provided.  Lunch  rooms  also  must  be  provided.  Medical  examina- 
tion at  least  once  every  six  months  is  required. 

France. — White  lead  must  be  used  only  in  the  form  of  paste  in  the  workshops  of 
house  painters.  Products  containing  lead  as  their  basis  must  not  be  used  with  the 
hands.  Scraping  off  or  rubbing  by  means  of  pumice  stone  of  white-lead  paint  in  a 
dry  state  is  prohibited.  Where  white-lead  paint  is  removed  by  the  wet  method, 
employers  must  place  at  the  disposal  of  workmen  overalls,  and  see  that  they  are  worn. 
The'  overalls  must  be  kept  in  good  order  and  frequently  washed.  All  necessary 
facilities  for  washing  must  be  provided  at  the  place  where  the  work  is  carried  on. 
A  decree  containing  the  regulations  must  be  posted  in  the  place  where  new  hands 
are  taken  on  and  where  workmen  are  paid.  Medical  certificates  are  required,  which 
must  be  renewed  every  three  months.  Lunch  rooms  must  be  provided.  The  law  of 
July  20,  1909,  to  come  into  effect  January  1,  1915,  absolutely  prohibits  the  use  of 
white-lead  paint  for  exterior  or  interior  painting. 

Belgium. — Belgium  requires  that  the  workmen  avoid  contact  with  the  white  lead 
with  their  hands,  apparently  not  forbidding  hand  mixing  or  mixing  by  handwork. 
The  posting  of  notices  in  establishments  where  dangerous  or  unhealthy  conditions 
exist  is  a  general  requirement  of  the  Belgium  factory  law.  Dry  rubbing  of  old  paint 
is  forbidden.  Medical  examination  every  three  months  is  required.  Wash  and 
lunch  rooms  are  required. 


62  BULLETIN   or    THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOE   STATISTICS. 

Austria. — All  baud  mixing  of  white  lead  is  prohibited.  In  case  of  other  colors  the 
hand  mixing  is  regulated.  Dry  rubbing  of  fresh  paint  or  of  old  paint  is  prohibited. 
The  use  of  white  lead  in  inside  work  is  forbidden  except  in  certain  cases.  Paints  con- 
taining white  lead  must  be  labeled  so  as  to  show  that  fact.  Workmen  must  be 
instructed  as  to  the  dangers  of  their  employment.  Medical  examination  is  required 
every  three  months  if  over  20  painters  are  employed,  and  under  the  same  conditions 
wash  and  lunch  rooms  must  be  provided. 

Austria's  prohibition  of  white-lead  paint  in  interior  use  carries 
with-  it  several  exceptions:  On  old  white-lead  paint,  when  nothing 
else  would  adhere  well,  white-lead  paint  may  be  used.  It  may  also 
be  used  on  walls  which  will  be  exposed  to  the  action  of  steam  or 
vaj:)ors  and  in  cases  where  the  use  of  this  paint  would  be  requu-ed  to 
keep  work  from  going  outside  of  Austria.  Ail  old  lead  paint  which 
has  been  rubbed  or  scraped  off  by  the  moist  process  prescribed  must 
be  gathered  up  from  the  floor  before  it  has  had  time  to  dry. 

In  Germany,  France,  and  Austria  the  law  is  stricter  for  painting 
in  factories  than  for  house  painting.  For  the  former  there  are  specific 
regulations  much  like  those  in  the  other  lead  trades.  Working  clothes 
must  be  provided,  alcohol  and  tobacco  are  forbidden,  there  must  be 
medical  inspection  every  six  months,  and  the  lavatory  facilities  must 
include  soap,  towels,  brushes,  an  adequate  number  of  basins,  and 
warm  water.  Germany  has,  however,  provided  more  carefully  for 
the  protection  of  house  painters  than  has  Austria.  In  Germany,  if 
the  work  is  house  painting,  the  contractor  is  required  to  provide 
overalls  and  caps  for  the  men  and  must  have  these  articles  washed 
and  kept  in  order.  He  must  provide  a  place  sheltered  from  the 
cold,  where  the  men  may  leave  their  street  clothes  and  where  they 
must  keep  and  eat  their  lunches,  and  this  place  must  have  soap, 
towols,  warm  water,  washbasins,  and  naUbrushes.  No  other  coun- 
try has  yet  made  such  detailed  provision  for  the  care  of  house  painters. 
It  is  also  made  the  duty  of  the  employer  in  Germany  to  suspend 
from  work  any  painter  whom  he  knows  to  be  suffermg  from  lead 
poisoning. 

The  laws  in  these  countries  insist  also  that  proper  precautions 
shall  be  taken  by  the  men  themselves.  Painters  are  forbidden  to 
leave  the  premises  where  they  are  employed  without  first  thoroughly 
washing  their  hands  and  faces.  No  food,  no  beverages,  no  tobacco 
may  bo  carried  into  the  workroom,  and  the  men  are  not  allowed  to 
take  theu*  lunches  in  any  room  except  the  one  provided  for  that 
purpose. 

POSSIBLE  LEGISLATION    FOR  THE   PROTECTION    OF   PAINTERS    IN 
THE    UNITED   STATES. 

In  the  United  States  there  has  been,  curiously  enough,  little  discus- 
sion of  the  (juestion  of  lead  j)oisoiiing  among  ])ainters  till  very 
recently.     After  I  lie  publication  of  the  Illinois  report  referred  to 


HYGIENE    OF    THE    PAINTERS '    TRADE.  63 

above,  a  law  was  passed  for  the  protection  of  workers  with  lead  and 
its  salts,  but  this  law  covers  painters  only  when  they  are  employed  in 
factories  and  workshops,  not  in  house  or  sign  painting.  No  other 
State  has  any  special  law  governing  the  lead  trades,^  and  even  the 
Illinois  law  is  inadequate. 

Throughout  this  report,  whether  dealing  with  American  or  Euro- 
pean conditions,  we  have  found  again  and  again  that  the  greatest 
danger  in  the  use  of  lead  paints  comes  from  the  dust  caused  by  dry 
rubbing.  Germany,  Austria,  France,  and  Switzerland  have  for- 
bidden dry  rubbing  for  all  kinds  of  work;  Belgium  has  forbidden  the 
rubbing  of  old  paint.  In  this  country  many  objections  are  urged 
against  the  use  of  pumice  and  water  on  the  ground  of  injury  to  the 
surface,  increased  expense,  and  so  on,  but  these  objections  do  not 
apply  to  the  use  of  oil  with  sandpaper  in  order  to  keep  down  the  dust. 
It  does  not  seem  unreasonable  to  insist  that  American  painters  should 
be  protected  against  the  danger  of  dry  rubbing  and  that  if  paint 
must  be  sandpapered,  the  use  of  some  oil  to  moisten  and  catch  the 
dust  should  be  required. 

When  it  comes  to  providing  properly  for  the  sanitary  needs  of  the 
painter  in  both  factory  painting  and  house  painting,  there  seems  no 
reason  why  the  American  employer  or  contractor  should  not  be  re- 
quired to  do  as  much  as  the  German  or  French  or  Austrian.  The 
Illinois  law  already  provides  for  the  protection  of  factory  painters,  and 
the  Brotherhood  of  Painters,  Decorators,  and  Paper  Hangers -has 
recently  insisted  that  the  same  protection  be  extended  to  house 
painters.  During  a  recent  strike  in  April,  1913,  the  following  de- 
mands were  made  by  the  brotherhood : 

No  workman  or  apprentice  shall  be  required  to  use  any  poisonous 
material  or  material  injurious  to  the  health,  such  as  wood  alcohol, 
varnish  remover,  oxalic  acid,  or  the  sanding  of  lead,  etc.,  unless  they 
are  protected  with  respirators,  gloves,  etc.,  same  to  be  furnished  by 
the  employer;  nor  shall  they  be  required  to  use  any  dirty  or  insan- 
itary waste,  rags,  or  drop  cloths.  There  shall  be  an  allowance  of 
five  minutes  for  wash  time  in  each  four  hours'  work,  and  where  lead 
or  other  poisonous  material  is  used,  the  employer  shall  furnish  hot 
water,  soap,  and  towels  to  the  workmen.  The  officers  and  members 
of  the  organization  shall  enforce  this  clause. 

This  is  said  to  be  the  first  time  the  union  has  effectively  dealt  ^^dth 
health  questions,  and  in  all  probability  the  inquiry  quoted  above  in 
regard  to  occupational  diseases  among  the  members  of  the  brother- 
hood in  Chicago  had  much  to  do  in  calling  the  attention  of  the  trade 
to  the  importance  of  such  measures  of  disease  prevention. 

European  laws  emphasize  the  need  of  instructing  painters  in  the 
dangers  of  their  occupation,  and  giving  them  simple  dii*ections  as  to 

1 A  law  for  the  prevention  of  occupational  diseases  with  special  reference  to  lead  poisoning  was  approved 
In  Ohio  May  6, 1913,  but  it  applies  only  to  the  manufacture  of  white  lead,  red  lead,  litharge,  sugar  of  lead, 
arsenate  of  lead,  lead  chroniate,  lead  sulphate,  and  lead  nitrate  or  fluosilicate. 


64  BULLETIN    OF   THE   BUREAU    OF    LABOR   STATISTICS. 

liow  to  avoid  these  dangers.  In  this  country  the  need  for  such 
instruction  is  most  apparent  in  factory  and  shop  work  where  untrained 
men  are  employed,  many  of  them  foreigners  with  little  knowledge  of 
English.     This  is  pro\aded  for  in  the  Illinois  law. 

However,  it  is  not  of  much  use  to  warn  men  against  the  dangers  of 
certain  substances  in  paint  unless  they  know  whether  or  not  the  paint 
they  are  handling  contains  these  substances.  Therefore,  the  paint- 
labeling  laws  which  have  been  advocated  for  the  protection  of  the 
buyer  are  desirable  as  a  protection  for  the  user  of  the  paint  as  well. 

When  it  comes  to  the  question  of  prohibiting  the  use  of  white  lead 
paint  for  inside  work  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion.  At  the  1910 
meeting  of  the  International  Congress  of  Industrial  Hygiene  in 
Brussels,  the  question  of  prohibiting  white  lead  paint  altogether  was 
discussed,  and  the  majority  of  the  speakers  regarded  this  as  radical 
and  premature,  but  saw  no  valid  reason  for  continuing  to  allow  its 
use  in  interior  work.  As  we  have  seen,  Austria  has  prohibited  it. 
The  step  was  taken  after  a  careful  investigation  had  been  made  into 
the  comparative  dangers  of  inside  work  and  outside  work  with  lead 
paint.  It  was  found  that  the  cases  of  lead  poisoning  among  inside 
painters  were  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  amount  of  lead  used,  for 
less  than  one-quarter  of  the  white  and  red  lead  paint  used  in  Austria 
was  on  inside  work.  Only  2,750  q.  were  required  for  inside  work  as 
against  9,500  q.  for  outside  work.*  In  Vienna  in  one  year's  time  163 
cases  occurred  in  connection  with  the  use  of  1,600  q.  of  lead  colors  on 
the  inside  and  on  the  outside  where  9,500  q.  were  used,  only  80  cases. 

With  the  exception  of  France,  no  other  country  has  thus  far 
followed  Austria's  example,  although  the  Federal  Council  of  Switzer- 
land in  1908  advised  the  adoption  of  similar  restriction  in  the  use  of 
white-lead  pamts,  and  the  Cantons  of  Basel  and  Zurich  have  followed 
this  advice. 

The  question  was  put  to  100  intelligent  union  painters,  and  all  but 
one  of  them  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the  substitution  of  zinc 
white  for  lead  pamt  in  inside  work  because  of  the  danger  attending 
the  use  of  lead  paint.  P^.  F.  Ladd,  dean  of  the  department  of  chem- 
istry and  pharmacy  of  North  Dakota  Agricultural  College,  a  well- 
known  authority  on  paint,  when  consulted  on  this  point  answered  as 
follows: 

I  woidd  Hmit  the  use  of  white-load  ])aint,  not  permittmg  its  use 
in  general  for  interior  ])aintuig,  alt])ough  I  do  not  know  that  I  would 
say  that  white  lead  should  bo  excludod  from  all  classes  of  interior 
painting.  I  would  not  at  this  time  exclude  the  use  of  white  lead  from 
exterior  ])ainting.     Restrictions  in  the  use  of  wliite  lead  should  not 

>  In  1904  and  1905,  the  paints  used  in  inside  work  in  Austria  were  23  per  cent  white  lead,  02  i»r  cent  zinc 
oxide,  and  1  j  per  cent  lithopone.  The  same  publication  gives  the  quantities  of  these  paints  used  in  tiermany 
in  1903,  quotint;  from  a  report  of  the  Dusseldorf  Chamber  of  Commerce.  For  inside  work,  white  lead  38 
per  cent,  zinc  while  35  per  cent,  lithopone  15  per  cent. 


HYGIENE   OF   THE   PAINTEES'   TEADE.  65 

be  confined  to  that  alone,  but  should  apply  to  all  classes  of  lead  paint 
that  are  possessed  of  toxic  properties.  I  would,  unless  information 
that  I  do  not  now  possess,  can  be  furnished,  prohibit  the  dry  rubbing 
down  of  white  lead,  but  permit  the  use  of  pumice  and  water  or  sand- 
paper and  some  drymg  oil.  I  would  restrict  the  use  of  dry  white 
lead  to  be  handled  by  pamters;  it  is  not  necessary,  for  the  work  can 
be  done  better  in  the  factory.  I  would  have  every  paint  of  this  kind 
labeled  to  show  its  true  composition  in  such  a  way  that  everyone  can 
understand  its  essential  features.  I  would  also  have  an  educational 
campaign  carried  on  warning  painters  of  some  of  the  dangers  of  care- 
lessness and  telling  them  of  remedial  methods  to  prevent  lead  poi- 
soning. 

SUMMARY. 

Paint  consists  essentially  of  pigment  ground  in  a  liquid  vehicle,  and 
either  the  pigment  or  the  vehicle  may  possess  poisonous  properties. 

The  most  important  liquids  used  as  ingredients  of  paint  or  of  paint 
removers  are  linseed  oil,  turpentine,  petroleum,  benzine  or  naphtha, 
and  benzole.  Wood  alcohol  and  fusel-oil  products  are  also  sometimes 
used.     These  are  all  volatile  poisons  except  linseed  oil. 

The  dangerous  pigments  are  the  different  salts  of  lead,  the  basic 
carbonate,  red  lead  and  orange  mineral,  the  chromate,  and  the  basic 
sulphate. 

Experiments  with  the  basic  carbonate  and  the  basic  sulphate  show 
that  the  former  is  much  more  soluble  in  human  gastric  juice  than  the 
latter  and  causes  more  rapid  and  severe  poisoning  in  animals. 
*■  The  danger  in  the  use  of  leadless  paints  and  of  paint  removers 
comes  from  the  liquid  vehicle  and  is  increased  by  lack  of  proper 
ventilation.  If  quickly  drying,  flat  finish  paints  are  used  in  close, 
ill-ventilated  rooms,  serious  poisoning  from  the  fumes  of  coal-tar 
products  and  of  turpentine  may  result. 

The  danger  from  the  use  of  lead  paints  comes  from  paint  dust  in 
the  air  and  from  paint  smeared  on  the  hands  which  may  be  carried 
into  the  mouth  with  food  or  tobacco. 

Pajnt  dust  is  caused  chiefly  by  rubbing  old  or  new  paint  with  dry 
sandpaper.  This  process  is  universally  recognized  as  the  most  dan- 
gerous part  of  the  painters'  trade.  It  could  be  completely  done  away 
with  by  the  use  of  cheap  mineral  oil  to  wet  the  sandpaper  and  catch 
the  dust. 

The  protection  of  the  painter  against  poisoning  thi'ough  unwashed 
hands  can  be  effected  only  by  providmg  adequate  washing  facilities 
and  a  clean  lunchroom  wherever  work  with  lead  paint  is  carried  on. 

Interior  house  paintmg,  ship  painting,  and  certain  kinds  of  carriage 
pamting,  including  railway  cars,  are  the  most  da;ngerous  branches  of 
the  trade  in  the  United  States. 
92589°— 13 5 


66  BULLETIN   OF   THE   BUREAU   OF   LABOR  STATISTICS. 

The  painters'  trade  is  regarded  in  all  countries  as  the  most 
important  of  the  lead  industries.  vSix  Eiiro])ean  countries  have  car- 
ried on  investigations  in  the  use  of  lead  pahit  in  industry,  and  five 
have  recommended  legislation  more  or  less  comprehensive  to  lessen 
the  dangers  to  which  painters  arc  exjiosed.  In  the  United  States, 
Illinois  alone  has  passed  such  a  law,  and  it  does  not  cover  any  painting 
except  that  done  in  workshops. 

A  study  of  hospital  reports  from  four  cities  shows  that  one-fourth 
of  the  hospital  cases  of  lead  poisoning  m  these  cities  were  painters. 
In  New  York  City  the  proportion  is  even  greater.  Forty  of  60 
fatal  cases  of  lead  poisonmg  in  New  York  were  painters. 

Among  1,009  painters  in  Chicago  who  sent  answers  to  a  list  of 
questions,  185  gave  a  history  of  lead  poisoning,  72  of  kidney  trouble, 
77  of  rheumatism,  and  24  of  stomach  trouble. 

One  hundred  able-bodied  painters  presented  themselves  for  physical 
examination  by  a  specialist  in  occupational  diseases,  who  found  that 
59  of  them  showed  evidence  of  chronic  lead  poisoning. 

An  analysis  was  made  of  the  hospital  or  dispensary  liistories  of  100 
lead-poisoned  painters.  The  proportion  of  complicated  and  of 
chronic  cases  was  large,  over  half  had  had  more  than  one  attack,  39 
had  had  palsy,  and  9  had  had  brain  symptoms. 

This  study  of  the  painters'  trade  in  the  United  States  shows  that 
there  are  many  elements  of  danger,  most  of  them  avoidable,  and  it 
shows  that  if  protective  legislation  is  to  be  passed  it  should  be 
directed  toward  the  prevention  of  poisonous  fumes  and  dust,  and  the 
provision  of  facilities  for  bodily  cleanliness. 

Such  legislation  should  (1)  forbid  the  use  in  unventilated  rooms  of 
paints  or  paint  removers  containing  volatile  poisons;  (2)  forbid  dry 
sandpapering  or  dry  chipping  oflf  of  lead  paint;  (3)  insist  that  the 
employer  provide  a  proper  place  for  his  workmen  to  hang  their  street 
clothes  and  keep  and  eat  their  lunch,  and  a  washroom  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  basins,  warm  water,  soap,  towels,  and  brushes;  (4)  require 
the  labelmg  of  all  paint  oft'ered  for  sale  in  such  a  way  that  the  painter 
can  be  apprised  of  the  danger  involved  in  its  use;  (5)  in  the  case  of 
work  done  in  factories,  cards  of  instruction  for  the  workmen  should 
be  posted,  and  if  necessary  these  should  be  written  in  one  or  more 
foreign  languages. 

The  total  prohibition  of  lead  paint  for  use  in  interior  work  would 
do  more  than  anything  else  to  improve  conditions  in  the  painting 
trade. 


I]^DEX. 

Page. 

Acetone,  used  in  paints,  physiological  eflccts  of i:i 

Agricultural  implements,  structural  iron,  etc.,  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 45 

Alcohol  (wood  or  methyl)  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 13 

Amy!  acetate,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 13 

Austria,  Belgium,  France,  and  (xermany,  regulations  in,  for  the  use  of  white  lead  patats 60-62 

Automobile  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 43,44 

Belgium,  France,  Germany,  and  Austria,  regulations  in,  for  the  use  of  white  lead  paints 60-62 

Benzine, petroleum  spirits,  and  naphtha,  used  in  paints,  physiological  efltects  of 11, 12 

Benzole,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 12, 13 

Carbolic  and  oxalic  acids,  and  potash,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 14 

Carbonate  of  lead.    (See  Pigments.) 

Carbon  disulphide,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 14 

Carriage  and  wagon  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 42, 43 

Feeding  experiments  on  eats  and  dogs  as  to  toxicity  of  lead  sulphate  and  lead  carbonate 25-29 

Flat-finish  paints,  analysis  of  samples  of ] fi,  17 

Flat-finish  paints,  physiological  effects  of 14-1 6 

France,  Germany,  Belgium,  and  Austria,  regulations  in,  for  the  use  of  white  lead  paints 60-62 

Furniture,  picture  frames,  moldings,  etc. ,  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 45 

Germany,  France,  Belgium,  and  Austria,  regulations  in,  for  the  use  of  white  lead  paints - . .  CO-62 

House  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 38 

Hygiene  of  painter's  trade: 

Introduction 5-7 

Summary 65, 66 

Laws  and  regulations  in  regard  to  the  use  of  white  lead  paints  in  European  countries 61, 62 

Lead  compounds  or  salts  used  in  paints.    (See  Pigments.) 
Lead  poisoning,  dangers  of,  in  painters'  trade: 

Agricultural  implements,  structural  iron,  etc.,  painting 45 

Automobile  painting 43, 44 

Dry  sandpapering  of  lead-painted  surfaces 33, 34 

Dust,  importance  of,  as  a  cause  of  lead  poisoning 34-36 

Furniture,  picture  frames,  moldings,  etc.,  painting 45 

House  painting 38 

Moist  rubbing  of  lead-painted  surfaces 35 

Paint  on  unwashed  hands  and  face 36-38 

Painters'  trade  in  European  countries 46-48 

Painters'  trade  in  the  United  States 4S-60 

Railway-car  painting 44, 45 

Removing  old  paint 35, 36 

Ship  painting 40-42 

Sign  painting 39 

Wood  and  carriage  painting. 42, 43 

Lead  poisoning,  examination  of  100  painters  for  evidences  of 51-58 

Lead  poisoning,  histories  of  100  painters  suffering  from 58-60 

Lead  poisoning.    (See  also  FigmeJits.) 

Legislation ,  possible,  for  the  protection  of  painters  in  the  United  States 62-65 

Linseed  oil,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 9, 10 

Methods  of  using  and  removing  paint,  dangers  involved  in 32-38 

Dry  sandpapering  of  lead-painted  surfaces 33,-34 

Dust,  importance' of,  as  a  cause  of  lead  poisoning 34-36 

Moist  rubbing  of  lead-painted  surfaces 35 

Paint  on  unwashed  hands  and  face,  dangers  from 36-38 

Removing  old  paint 35, 36 

Milk,  retarding  effect  of,  on  solubility  of  lead  salts  in  human  gastric  juice 29-32 

Moldings,  etc. ,  picture  frames,  and  furniture  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 45 

Naphtha,  benzme,  and  petroleum  spirits,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 11, 12 

Oxalic  and  carbolic  acids,  and  potash,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 14 

Paints: 

Acetone  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 13 

-Alcohol  (wood  or  methyl)  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 13 

Arayl  acetate  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 13 

Benzole  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 12, 13 

Carbon  disulphide  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 14 

Composition  of V,  8 

Corrosive  poisons  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 14 

Flat-finish,  analysis  of  samples  of 16, 17 

Flat-finish  or  "dull-coat" 14-17 

Flat-finish,  physiological  effects  of , 14-16 

Formulas  for  paints  used  on  inside  work  and  on  outside  work 8 

Legislation,  possible,  for  the  protection  of  painters  in  the  United  States 62-65 

Linseed  oil  used  in,  physiological  effects  of ,^'}^ 

Methods  of  using  and  removing,  dangers  of  lead  poisoning  in 32-38 

Petroleum  spirits,  benzine,  and  naphtha  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 11,12 

Physiological  effects  produced  by  liquid  constituents  of ^i  14 

Regulations  governing  use  of  lead  paints  in  European  countries 60-62 

Turpentine  used  in,  physiological  effects  of 10, 11 

67 


68  INDEX. 

Page. 

Petroleum  spirits,  benzine,  and  naphtha,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 11, 12 

Picture  frames,  furniture,  moldings,  etc.,  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 45 

Pigments,  or  lead  salts,  used  in  paints 18-32 

Carbonate  and  sulphate  of  lead,  factory  using,  lead  poisoning  in 21,22 

Carbonate  and  sulphate  of  lead,  relative  toxicitv  of,  in  dogs  and  cats 22, 23, 25-29, 32 

Carbonate  and  sulphate  of  lead,  retarding  effect  of  milk  on  solubility  of,  in  human  gastric  juice. .  29-32 

Carbonate  and  sulphate  of  lead,  solubility  of,  in  human  gastric  juice 22-25, 31 

Poisonousness,  relative,  of  the  different  lead  salts lS-22 

Sulphate  of  lead,  factories  makin?,  lead  poisoning  in 19-21 

Prevention  of  lead  poisoning  by  a  railway  car  company 21, 22 

Railway-car  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 44, 45 

Redlea"d.    (6Ve  Pigments.) 

Regulations  in  European  countries  governing  use  of  lead  paints 60-62 

Sandpapering,  drv,  of  lead-painted  surfaces,  dangers  of 33, 34 

Ship  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 40-42 

Sign  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 39 

Structural  iron,  etc.,  painting,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 45 

Sulphate  of  lead.    (See  Pigments.) 

Turpentine,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 10, 11 

AVagon  and  carriiige  paint ing,  risks  of  lead  poisoning  involved  in 42, 43 

Wood  alcohol,  methyl  alcohol,  used  in  paints,  physiological  effects  of 13 

o 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing, 
as  provided  by  the  rules  of  the  Library  or  by  special  ar- 
rangement with  the  Librarian  in  charge. 


DATE  BORROWED 


DATE  BORROWED 


fei- 


im 


fHhR 


1991  MJR  1  7  i99if 


q^ 


jgflgzoou  ocfjozoos 


OCT2flZ01)J  N0V2Q2W 


AMIi 


gC*4?001  CEC^SaH 


mrr 


5 


.    !       '■v 


NOV  2  2  2004 


czeii  i40)Mioo 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


0027096025 


"■  ;l 


